Aftermath
by Xymena Falling
Summary: Set after the anime finishes, SPR tackle new cases. But the ghosts are far from willing to move on... and will go all out against SPR. Usual pairings, please R
1. 1 battle trouble part 1

Aftermath

Battle Trouble, Part 1

The door opened. Naru didn't even bother looking up.

"Mai, tea."

Naru listened to Mai mumble something about Monk and snowballs and she went to get the tea, dumping her soggy coat on her chair. He looked at it. He was right (as always) - there were marks of a snowball by the back of the collar. He sighed as she brought the tea.

"Mai, hang up your coat." She stormed off to hang it up, grumpy that she still hadn't managed to wring a 'thank you' out of Naru.

The door opened, just as Mai had placed her coat on a peg, and instantly she went into customer mode.

"Um, is this Shibuya Psychic Research?" Mai nodded, wondering how people managed to miss the name on their front door.

"Do you have an appointment?" The lady nodded. "Please sit right here, Shibuya-san will be here in a moment."

She knocked on his door, saying "Naru? There's a customer" She then left to make more tea. After placing two cups on the table she went to stand behind Naru.

"My name is Ichihara Hanayo. My family runs a small hotel right next to an ancient battle field. There are ghosts of the soldiers who fought there, still fighting the battle."

"Nothing unusual. That happens in lots of places."

"I know, and although the soldiers have come to our hotel before, it wasn't anything serious. Just knocks and that sort of stuff. But relatively recently, it has gotten worse. Much worse."

"Can you describe any of the things that have happened recently?"

"At first our furniture broke during the night, and our walls and doors were slashed. Then my husband was attacked; he was pushed into the small lake nearby and his room emptied of all furniture, including his bed while he slept on it. Also my sister was pushed down the stairs. Luckily she only sprained her wrist. Most of our guests have been scared away. We have called in a team of ghost investigators before, but they left after one of their members was injured badly. However before they left, they did say that was certainly a ghost or spirit of some sorts. Wanting it to be cleared up, we had someone exorcise the hotel. The activity died down for a while, but then..." She trailed off.

"I see" said Naru coolly. Lin shut the laptop slightly. It was the moment of truth. Will he take the case, or not?

"We need one room for a base to work from, preferably reasonably large with lots of sockets, and two large rooms for us to sleep in. Expect us to come at 4pm tomorrow."

"That will be fine" she stood and left, after leaving the address. Mai felt pleased, it was good when Naru took cases.

"Mai, tea."

* * *

Mai sat in the front of the van, lazily looking out at the snowy scenery pass. The chugging of the engine was slowly lulling her to sleep.

_Mai was standing in a hallway. The style of the building around her was old._

"_Where am I?" she wondered, wondering if they had already got to the hotel. Suddenly she turned around. There was Naru, smiling, and Mai realised this was a dream, and wished a bit it wasn't, because Naru should really smile more._

"_Watch."_

_It was like someone had pressed a fast forward button, she saw people quickly walk by, and enter rooms, and leave rooms, about 4 times faster then normal. Suddenly, it went back to normal speed._

_The corridor was empty. A door slid open, and a woman walked out. You could see that she was clearly pregnant. Mai smiled a little._

"Mai, if you don't move your head soon your face will get stuck to the window." Naru said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't be silly. Faces can't get stuck to the window." He raised an eyebrow, almost like he was saying 'I wouldn't count on that'. She felt that her best course of action was to change topic.

"Anyway, I had a dream." He silently beckoned her to continue. " It wasn't much, it was just this old hallway, and then there was a pregnant woman. Then I woke up."

He looked at her for a split second, then went back to his book. It wasn't a very helpful dream, Mai knew that.

The van pulled up outside a modest hotel. It looked quite old. The car behind them parked next to the van. Monk practically jumped out, followed by Ayako, John and Masako. They looked at the hotel.

Hanayo came out to greet the group. After everyone was introduced she led them inside.

"This room we thought was the most appropriate for your base. The other two rooms are on either side. The restroom is at the end of the hallway, you should be able to find it easily. If you need any help, please ask me, a member of my family or a member of staff. Dinner will be at 7. We hope everything is to your liking."

"Everything is satisfactory."

"Thank you." Said Mai, glaring at Naru. What was wrong with saying please and thank you?

She nodded and left.

"Bou-san, John and Mai get the equipment. Ayako and Hara-san walk around and see if you can sense anything." Naru said, and he left as soon as he had finished.

As they were unlocking the van, Mai had an idea. Payback time. She waited till Monk was looking the other way and then quickly made a snowball.

"Bou-san?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes, Mai?" he asked, turning around to only get a face full of snowball. Mai laughed.

"Aha! That was for yesterday morning!"

Monk glared at her, and then laughing quickly made his own snowball, launching it in her direction. Chaos reigned.

"Uh, guys don't you think you should stop?" John was trying, and failing, to keep the peace.

Just then one of Mai's snowballs strayed from its intended path and hit Naru in the middle of his back. He paused.

"Mai, Bou-san, I do not recall telling you to have a snowball fight." Both Mai and Monk sighed, and carried the rest of the equipment in.

* * *

"So, do you feel anything?" Masako nodded, her mouth hidden by the sleeve of her kimono.

"There are a lot of soldiers. Most of them are on the battle field, but sometimes a few will come into the hotel. They don't seem to realise that they are dead, and that the battle has ended."

"Are there any in the hotel at the moment?"

"No."

"Mai and Bou-san do a temperature check. John and Ayako set up cameras."

Mai and Monk wandered through the hotel, writing done the temperature of various rooms. Then they walked around a corner, and Mai suddenly gasped with surprise. It was the hallway from her dream earlier. Ignoring Monk, she quickly ran down, and stopped outside the room where, in her dream, the pregnant woman had come out of.

"Mai! Wait!"

"Hurry up Bou-san! Jeez, old people are so slow" Monk caught up with her, and slapped her head jokingly.

"Hey, who are you calling old!" She rolled her eyes.

"You, obviously. I think we should do this room next." She slid open the door, revealing a plain room, with a simple futon, and not much else.

She looked at the thermometer.

"The temperature is...hang on..."

"What?"

"It's dropping! Really fast!" Mai could feel herself starting to shiver. Oh great, not a ghost already...

Still the temperature dropped, until it was it was 6 degrees. Mai could feel her teeth chattering, and could hear Monk's teeth. The red liquid stayed put for a few chilling moments, and then started to rise again, until it was normal temperature again.

"What was that?" Monk asked cautiously.

"A spirit? Anyway, the temperature is 20 degrees. And we'll put a line under it so we remember this room."

They continued measuring and returned to base, handing the results to Lin. He pointed to the underlined room number and temperature.

"Why is this underlined?" he asked.

"Well, we were in the room, and then suddenly it dropped really fast." Mai could see Naru raise his eyebrows out of the corner of her eye.

"It only stayed like that for a few moments though, and then it went back to normal again." Continued Monk.

"Mai?"

"Yes Naru?"

"I want you to gather the Ichihara family. I want to question them. After that..."

"Yes?" She asked, although she could guess what it was.

"...tea." He turned back to the monitors, and she set off on her task. On the way, she came across to young children, one boy, one girl. They both turned and looked at her. Mai kneeled down to their height.

"Let me guess, you are Nunoe and Eikou, right?" She asked, smiling. They nodded.

"Are you one of the ghost team?" Nunoe asked. Mai nodded. She was friendly with children.

"Do ywou cat-ch tem inna net?" asked Eikou, the small boy. It took Mai a moment to decipher what he had said.

"No, not really, we just persuade them to move on into the next world when they are causing trouble, that's all. Have the ghosts done anything to you?"

"I saw one! We both did!" declared Nunoe proudly.

"Oh? Can you tell my boss all about it in our teams' base?" Mai noticed that Nunoe increased her grip on Eikous hand. But then she nodded.

* * *

**So...**

**Thanks if you managed to get this far! We like you. ^^**

**Please review, etc... **

**(anyone else get stuck onto what to put into these bits sometimes? It's like when we write on our profile. We were both like errrr... what do we write here?)**

**Oh yeah, thanks to mytruthaboutlife. We got the idea of writing a story off you. (we read her story and were like "We should do one too!")  
**


	2. 1 battle trouble part 2

**Hey! ere is chapter 2! (no joke) Thanks to reviewers and readers :D**

**DISCLAIMER: we don't, and will not ever, own Ghost Hunt (sob :( )**

* * *

Chapter 2 - Battle Trouble, Part 2

Mai placed a steaming cup of tea in front of Naru.

"What did they say?" she asked him, referring to the interviews with the Ichihara family.

"The two children said that they saw a samurai ghost once wandering around the house."

"Samurai ghost? Wouldn't he have come from the battle field?"

"Mai, your stupidity amazes me. Of course he came from the battle field. Touta, (the father, Mai, remember?) confirmed that his furniture, including his bed while he slept on it, was moved during the night, and that he fell into the pond. However the pond incident could have been an accident. The sister, Orimi, fell down the stairs, but she claims it was an accident and that she wasn't looking where she was going. Hanayo and Yazuna, the older daughter, have not seen the ghost, but all the family have seen scratched walls. Apparently the wall was fine, until they turned around. When they turned around again, the wall would have scratch marks." Naru didn't even look up as he spoke. "Mai, I want you and Hara-san to do another tour of the house. See if you can feel anything."

Mai walked off, unhappy that she was paired up with Masako, but knowing full well that complaints would only gain her nothing. Mai trudged through the house, her displeasure at this pairing obvious.

"So, Masako, do you feel anything?"

"I would prefer it if you didn't drop honorifics with me" Mai remembered that Masako had told her that on a previous case, and tried again.

"So, Masako-_san, _do you feel anything?"

"There is a soldier walking around downstairs, but he is not causing any trouble. However..."

"Continue?"

"There is someone else...I can't see who it is..." Suddenly she screamed, and fainted. Mai caught her, and laid her down on the floor. There was no way she was carrying her back to base. She didn't really have to faint all the time. Mai did not have to wait long; there was a camera and microphone nearby, which picked up Masako's scream, which probably made Lin's ears hurt for a while.

"Mai! What happened?" John asked as they came running. Mai rolled her eyes.

"The usual. She screamed, and fainted."

"Didn't she say anything before that?"

"She said there was a ghost downstairs, but it wasn't making any trouble, and then she said that there was someone else, but she couldn't see them clearly."

"Someone else?" Masako started to wake up.

"Masako, who did you see?"

"I think it's a woman, but I can't be sure, but she's angry, so angry and sad..."

-x-x-x-

Naru had his chin in his hand, he was deep in thought.

"John, can you do an exorcism?" Naru asked John when they got back to the base. John nodded.

"Wait, what are we doing?" Naru sighed.

"Mai, if you cannot pay attention then I will leave you behind next time. We are going to try and do an exorcism on the battle field."

Mai nodded, and tried to look as though she was paying attention.

"Because we cannot put cameras on the battle field, we will all be there in person, except Lin."

The exorcism couldn't have much risk if Lin was staying behind, right?

Soon after John, in his catholic robes complete with holy water and bible, stood on the windy field; everyone else stood some distance behind him. John sprinkled holy water, opened his bible and started the exorcism.

"Heavenly god, please allow us to worship you, your soul becomes our heaven and the earth, in the beginning there was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. Through him all things were ma-"

Suddenly John was thrown back, and he hit a tree, and sank down to the ground.

"JOHN!" Mai cried, running to his side.

Ayako was already there, checking his pulse and breathing.

"He's all right, but unconscious." Everyone sighed in relief, except for the usual one.

"Take him to his room." Naru ordered his chin in his hand. Monk lifted John and led the procession back to his room.

-X-X-X-

Mai jumped onto her temporary bed and sighed. Before she knew it, her eyes had closed and she drifted off to sleep.

_Mai was standing in the pregnant woman's room. _

"_Wait, how did I get here?" she asked the air. She turned around, taking in the room. "Naru!" she smiled back at the black clad figure just behind her. Before she had a chance to say anything the door opened as the pregnant woman walked in._

"_Wow, she got big." Mai commented tactfully. _

"_Watch."_

_She sat down on her chair, and started to write a letter. The scene morphed, the woman was sitting in bed, holding a baby. She looked so happy and peaceful. The door to the room was flung open and a man strode in._

"_Sakurako, give the baby to me." He said, trying to control the anger in his voice. Sakurako shrank back._

"_No!" She said, holding the baby away._

"_Yes!" He cried, clawing for the baby, who had started crying. "This is your own fault" He spat at her. Mai could see the fear in Sakurako, and automatically reached out to try and stop the man, but as usual, Naru held her back._

"_No! Please don't take my child! Please!" Tears started rolling down Sakurako's cheeks. Mai was shocked. Who was this man to take away her child, who she obviously loved and cared for? There was the sound of hand on cheek, and all Mai could do was stand and watch it, and do nothing to help Sakurako. The man finally managed to grab the crying baby, and stormed out with it. Sakurako just lay on the bed, sobbing. The dream faded._

Meanwhile...

Masako rolled over. What she saw surprised her, but then she smiled, rolled over again and went back to sleep. Serve her right, she thought happily.

After several more hours of sleep, Ayako woke up, yawned, and looked to see if Mai and Masako were awake. She was even more surprised then Masako had been, and was certainly less happy about it. She quickly ran over to Masako and shook her awake.

"Masako, Masako! Wake up!"

"Hm...? What is it? Did I over sleep?"

"No! Look!" Ayako pointed.

"I know." Masako said simply, and turned her back to Ayako.

"What?You knew? Then why didn't you say anything earlier?" Ayako was practically screaming.

"I thought I was still asleep" Masako lied.

"Even so, you just woke up, and it wasn't a dream, and you're doing _nothing _about it?"

There was a knock on the door.

"What's going on?" shouted Monk through the door. Ayako stormed to the door, and flung it open, revealing Naru, Monk, John and Lin. They were used to Masako or Mai screaming, not Ayako, even if she was screaming at someone, not because she was scared. Normally Ayako only screamed at Monk.

"Oh! If only I knew _what _was going on! And if only I knew what was going through Masako's mind!" she screamed at Naru, who was unfazed by her screaming.

"Ayako, move." Naru said simply, and Ayako realised that they couldn't see past her. She moved aside.

"Huh?" gasped John.

"Mai!" shouted Monk in surprise. The view even shocked Naru.

"What happened?"


	3. 1 battle trouble part 3

**it's us again! *waves* thankees to all our readers and reviewers (again) :)**

**excuse us for any typos or spelling mistakes, and if the characters are a bit out of character, feel free to point it out if that happens.**

* * *

Chapter 3 - Battle Trouble, part 3

"Ayako, what happened?" Naru repeated urgently.

"I don't know! I just woke up, and it was like this, and Masako had woken up earlier, but did _nothing _about it!" Ayako cried. Naru looked over to Masako.

"Why did you say nothing?" Masako blushed slightly and looked down.

"I thought I was dreaming." She said softly. She hadn't wanted to get Naru annoyed with her.

"But when I woke you up, you weren't even slightly surprised!" By now, Ayako's shouting had attracted some of the guests, and soon Hanayo was rubbing her eyes and forcing her way through the small crowd.

"What happened?" she asked Naru, who glanced at her before ignoring her, leaving John to quietly tell her. Hanayo looked worried.

"Lin, check footage to see if we can tell where she went, Masako, Ayako, you go in a pair, and same to you, Bou-san and John. Search the hotel. Hanayo, I need to ask you a question." They swiftly left, except for Hanayo and Naru. The guests, when they realised that no-one was going to tell them what had happened, dispersed to breakfast.

"Hanayo, when your husbands furniture got moved, what room were they moved to?"

"I think it was room 13..." she trailed. "I can't remember..."

Naru swiftly left to base, to check something with Lin, leaving Hanayo to stare at the space where Mai, and her bed, had been.

"Lin, what was the room number where the temperature dropped suddenly when it was being measured?"

"Room 13." Naru ran out, feeling quite sure that he knew which room Mai had been moved too. But what was special about room 13? Was that were the ghost spent it's free time?

-x-x-x-

Mai woke up, stretched, looked around her, and was surprised to see, not the girl's bedroom, but a different room.

Wait, this was room where that woman, Sakurako, had had her baby taken from her...This was the room where it had got cold so quickly...

Was she still dreaming? No, there was no sign of Naru, and if she was dreaming, she didn't normally take her bed with her.

But then if she wasn't dreaming, then what was she doing in this room, if someone had taken her then they wouldn't have taken her bed as well, right? She was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of approaching footsteps. They sounded like they were running...

"Please don't be a ghost..." Mai whispered to herself, scared. The door was flung open.

"Mai!" She looked up to see Naru. "Are you alright? Do you know what happened?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine, but I just woke up here suddenly, what's going on?"

"We got woken up by Ayako screaming. I'm surprised you didn't." John appeared behind Naru, and Monk skidded past, but stopped and ran back to give Mai a hug.

"Mai! We were so worried!"

"Bou-san! I'm alive, but I won't be if you keep hugging me!" Monk released her, and Mai gasped for breath. Ayako and Masako poked their heads into the room. Ayako was obviously relieved, Masako looked annoyed.

Back at base, Lin showed them a piece of footage. It was of room 13. He turned the sound up. A second later, they could hear sounds of Mai's bed being pushed along the floor. It was then drowned out by Ayako's distant screams. Lin pointed to the top of the screen, where you could just see part of one of the bed's legs moving past.

"Naru..." began Mai. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "When I was asleep, I had a dream." She told him her dream about Sakurako, only leaving out dream Naru.

"Lin, call Yasuhara" ordered Naru, "Ask him to research this hotel, and see if he can find anything about Sakurako." Lin nodded slightly.

"Are we going to exorcise room 13?" asked Monk.

"Yes."

"Huh? But Naru, what if it ends up like last time?" Mai protested.

"It won't."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because he's Naru" said Monk, trying to stop an argument.

"Last time John got hurt and you didn't know that that would happen, did you? The exorcism failed, and the spirit is only going to get angrier! We don't know what will happen this time! Naru!"

"Hara-san," Masako looked up. Naru was asking her something! Her happiness, however, was short-lived. "During the exorcism I want you and Mai to wait in another room."

"What?" Mai and Masako both cried at the same time.

-x-x-x-

Mai had her ear pressed to the wall between the two rooms. There didn't seem to be anything going wrong with the exorcism...yet.

"What are you doing?" asked a very irritated Masako.

"Listening to the exorcism, dummy."

"Hey! Don't call me dummy!" But she went and pressed her ear to the wall too. They stood there, listening to the words.

"In the beginning there was the word..." Why were they using John again? What if it hurt him again? She suddenly realised she had said that aloud. On the other side, she could hear someone lean against the wall, and then heard Naru mutter into the wall, "Stop eavesdropping" and she almost slapped the wall. Masako was suddenly flung from the wall to the ground. The temperature started dropping, but Mai didn't notice. She ran to Masako.

"Masako! Are you alright?" Masako rubbed her back.

"Yes...I think..."

Naru suddenly opened the door, with Monk, John and Ayako behind him.

"John! Finish the exorcism!" Naru commanded. John paused for a second, then nodded and ran back to room 13. Mai Suddenly felt like someone had given her a MASSIVE slap, and she was aware of her flying across the room, and her back hit the wall hard with a considerable amount of pain. She gasped, and sank to the floor.

"Mai!"

She realised she was going to get another slap, and tried to brace herself, but all the wind had been knocked out of her. Suddenly she was aware of black crossing her vision for a second, and then she realised that Naru had taken the hit, he was flung into the wall beside her.

"Bou-san!"

Monk nodded, and started chanting.

"Naumaku san manda bazaradan kan!" Mai coughed and Naru stood up.

"Oww..." Started Mai , rubbing her head. Ayako ran off to get an ice pack. "Naru, what was that?"

"It seems the ghost is targeting you. If it had wanted to stop the exorcism completely, it would have gone after John."

"Speaking of which, how did the exorcism go?" Monk wondered out loud.

"I don't know. If it was the same spirit my exorcism may have moved it. I think the spirit is powerful." John said, looking worried. Monk nodded in agreement.

"Mai, can you stand okay?" Monk helped her to her feet.

"I think so." She nodded. Ayako returned with an ice pack and gently placed it on Mai's head.

"Hold the ice there." She said, then turned to Masako to check for any cuts or bruises.

Suddenly, a shriek came from downstairs.

"I don't think the exorcism was successful."

They ran downstairs. Hanayo stood there, looking at the hallway wall. Behind her was Nunoe and Eikou. They were looking at the wall, too. Eikou looked scared.

There, etched on the wall, was one word.

_Where?_


	4. 1 battle trouble part 4

**thank you all you readers, we like you :) **

**(sorry if we made anyone a bit b!tchy last time)(and sorry if we make them b!tchy in the future)**

**enjoy! ^_^**

* * *

Where?

"What on..."began Monk. Naru captured his chin in his fingers.

"What do they mean by where, Naru?" asked Mai. There was a pause.

"She probably thinks that we know where something is. Something that she wants."

"Well, what does she want?" demanded Ayako.

"Yasuhara's arrival will, hopefully, clear that up. Mai."

"Yes?"

"Tea. Don't go alone." And with that he strode down the hallway, back to base. Everyone else followed him, except for Mai, and Ayako, who had volunteered to go with Mai.

In the kitchen, Mai sighed as she poured water into the kettle and set it to boil.

"Oh, you're sighing a lot," commented Ayako with a dry smirk. "You know what they say about people who sigh a lot, right?"

Mai paused and thought for a moment. "No." She finally concluded. "What do they say?"

"Well, that they are in love. Are you going to tell him?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Mai, hoping to avoid the conversation, but she wasn't sure how.

"You know who I mean" Ayako sighed. She wasn't going to let Mai get away from this conversation.

"Oh! You sighed! You know what they say about people who sigh a lot, right?"

"But that was a totally different type of sigh!"

"Yeah, well, so was mine!" Mai stuck her tongue out. The water stopped boiling. Mai poured it into a cup, and pulled the tea bag around the cup, looking as the water changed from clear to golden. She dumped the tea bag into the bin, and walked back with Ayako.

In the base, Yasuhara had arrived. He handed a folder to Naru, and then turned to the others and started talking about various things.

Mai put the tea on the table, then she and Ayako sat down. Naru shut the folder.

"The original house was built by Oichi Kaname, about 110 years ago. It was passed down through the family. Kaname was Sakurako's great grandfather. She died from natural causes at the age of 17. However there are some rumours concerning her death. For a start, it seems she was pregnant, but no one knows whether she died before the baby was born or after."

"Well, we know. Mai said after." Pointed out Ayako. Yasuhara glanced at Mai, then carried on.

"Okay then, after. But no one knows what happened to the baby. There were rumours that it was killed by her father, Oichi Sumito, as the father of the child was unknown. Sumito was supposed to have been a harsh guy, so it's possible."

Yasuhara shut his notepad. Everyone was silent.

"So that man, was her father?" asked Mai quietly, remembering the anguish and fear on Sakurako's face. She felt sorry for her. Naru had his chin in his hand.

"I think we can assume that Sakurako is looking for her baby." He said.

"So, when she finds the baby she'll move on right?" Monk asked.

"Why can't we make a hitogata then?" Mai asked

"Mai, you are an idiot. To make a hitogata we would have to have the name."

John started to tell Yasuhara the whole story.

"But then why is she hurting people?" cried Mai. But Naru was silent. "Naru?" she spoke louder.

"Mai, be quiet." She sucked in her breath and then glared at him.

"I think we need to speak to the spirit. Hara-san, can you perform a séance tonight?" Masako nodded. Naru got up and left.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Monk. Yasuhara shrugged.

"We wait for the séance?" suggested John. He looked at his watch. It was only 4 in the afternoon.

Nobody moved from the base all day, except for Masako when she went to prepare and Mai when she went to get tea. After taking the empty cups back for a refill, she paused outside Naru's door. Gathering courage she knocked, then went in, not waiting for an answer. He looked up from his book.

"Normally when people knock they wait for an answer before coming in."

"Well, I was only wondering if you would like some tea." Huffed Mai. And he's one to complain about manners. She started walking to the door.

"Mai, wait." She turned around. "Are you going by yourself?"

"Yes, why?"

"After I specifically told you not to?"

"I'm only going to the kitchen."

"I'll come with you." He stood and they went together. Neither of them spoke. I don't know why he comes if he's not gonna say anything Mai thought bitterly as she waited for the water to boil and set out cups.

"Are you getting tea for everyone? And they sent you alone." He was clearly not happy about this. Why does he have to make such a fuss? The return journey to the base was just as quiet. They entered to find everyone sitting on the couches, talking. However they soon stopped when they saw Naru's expression.

"Lin." He walked back out the base, Lin following him.

"Mai, what happened?" Monk looked worried.

"Nothing! I went to get tea and he came along."

"So you two were alone in the kitchen. That's why you took longer then usual!" He grinned. Mai blushed slightly.

"Bou-san! Nothing happened. He was in a bad mood."

"Poor Mai." He said, ruffling her hair. She scowled at him.

"Mai." Naru had returned to base and was beckoning her. Monk grinned even wider. She sighed but got up and followed him.

"Mai, your stupidity knows no bounds. The ghost is targeting you."

"Naru, nothing is going to happen to me in between the kitchen and the base. It's just down the hall, if something happened they could hear me!" Mai was getting angry.

"And what if you faint in the hall? You wouldn't make any noise and you wouldn't be able to defend yourself." He said calmly.

"Naru, if it's such a big problem maybe YOU should follow me round everywhere! Stop taking it out on Lin-san, you JERK!" She screamed. He looked at her coldly.

That was how, for the rest of the day she went everywhere with Naru. Damn my big mouth. I didn't mean it literally! She thought angrily, as Naru stood watching her pour boiling water in the kitchen. Suddenly she collapsed, and the last thing she heard was "Mai!".

I was in the base. Whoa, how did I get here so quickly? Naru appeared at my side.

"Look." He said. I watched as the woman stood next to Monk and Ayako as they were deep in conversation.

"Where is she? Answer me! I will not let you interfere!" The woman screeched at them, but they didn't respond.

"Why don't they notice her?" I asked, confused.

"She does not know how to appear to humans. She does not realise she is dead." Naru smiled sadly.

"Mai!"

I could hear a voice in the distance calling my name.

"Mai!"

"Naru?" She woke on the floor with his jacket over her. She sat up.

"Mai, what happened?" Ayako appeared in the doorway, with Monk and John in tow.

"I had a dream. She was there, right next to you and Bou-san, speaking to you, but you couldn't see her." Mai frowned. "She doesn't realise that she is dead, and she's confused about why no one notices her."

Naru helped her up and everyone made their way back to the base. Lin stood up.

"Is she okay?"

"Yes." Said Naru, smirking. He clearly thought that he had proved his point. Mai gritted her teeth. And now he's definitely not going to let me go anywhere on my own.

Touta ran into the base, everyone looked at him.

"Touta-san, what is it?" Asked John.

"In the dinning room, there are more scratches! We were eating, when suddenly there were lots of bangs and when we looked up words had been scratched into the walls."

Everyone stood up and made their way down to the dinning room. Sure enough, on the wall were scratched the two words: answer me. Masako promptly fainted.

"Masako!" Mai supported her. "Masako, are you alright?"

She groaned. "The spirit...is so angry." She said quietly.

"Hara-san, I think we should move the séance to earlier. Are you prepared to do that?"

Masako nodded.


	5. 1 battle trouble part 5

**For once I am writing this bit yay :D anyway, we have to apologise for the shortness of our previous chapters, so to make up for it this ones a bit longer :) well, a lot longer. thanks to Ariana Taniyama, Fox Trot 9 and weezerz2490 for reviewing :) and thanks to everyone who read.**

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Chapter 5 - Battle Trouble, Part 5

Mai looked around the dark room, remembering grimly what had happened when a rival group held a séance. She shuddered. That poor girl...she hadn't deserved to have her throat cut by a monster. She looked over to Masako, who was sitting in front of a low table, her eyes closed, head bowed slightly. Mai knew that wasn't really a séance, it was channelling the spirit, but to her it was almost the same thing. Suddenly, Masako opened her eyes.

"Sakurako?" Naru asked. Sakurako/Masako looked around, and then nodded. Her eyes met Mai's. She looked angry.

"You! Why are you ignoring me?" She sounded angry, but desperate.

"I-ignoring you?" Mai was confused. She hadn't ignored Sakurako, had she?

"Yes! I thought you would know, I thought you were different! I thought you would be nice, but...You were just the same as everyone else!"

"Know what?" Naru asked patiently. Sakurako was angry at Mai for ignoring her questions. Even if Mai didn't get it, Naru did. However, she ignored his question.

"I tried to get your attention! I even took the trouble of moving your bed to my room, just hoping that you would notice me!" Tears were running down her cheeks. "I hated it!"

Naru sidestepped into her view. "Sakurako, are you looking for your child?" he said calmly. Sakurako/Masako looked at him, instead of Mai.

"Yes! I kept asking people, in case they knew where my darling daughter had been taken. She was taken, oh so cruelly, away from me." Her face changed from the picture sadness, into one more favourable of hate. Her fists clenched, her mouth crumpling up, and the look in her eyes was one of murderous hate. "She was taken by my father...I hated him so much! He never thought about his family, it was all about honour and money."

"But then you hurt Mai." Naru stated bluntly, lightly curious.

"She never answered! I had to get her attention, and it doubled as a punishment. And I wrote questions on the walls! No-one could miss them then!"

"Did you use the soldiers?"

"How else do you think I moved her bed, wrote the questions, and tried to get everyone else's attention?" Everyone else gasped, except for Lin and Naru of course.

"Did you name your child?" Naru suddenly asked, and Sakurako/Masako sobbed.

"My little Tokie. She was beautiful. You seem to know a lot, do you know where she is?"

Naru didn't answer. "Don't ignore me!" she screeched. "Why does everyone ignore me?" The sobs turned louder and she bent over, her hands covering her face. Mai made out to go comfort her, but a glance from Naru told her not to. Suddenly Masako stopped, and leaned over, nearly hitting her head on the table. Mai and John ran to her and supported her.

"Naru? What should we do?" Mai asked.

"Take Masako to her room. She will need to sleep. Then get me tea. Lin." And with that he left the base, followed by Lin. Mai tucked Masako in bed. _It must be hard, being a medium. Sensing spirits all the time, and getting possessed on a daily basis..._Mai gave a final glance, then swiftly left to get tea.

When she opened the door to the base (cautiously with her foot), neither Lin nor Naru were there. She went to Naru's room, and knocked with her foot, calling "Naru?".

"Hm." Lin opened the door, and Mai stumbled in with tea. Naru glanced up, took the tea cup, swiftly drank it, gave it back to her, and made to leave with Lin.

"Wait, Naru! Where are you going?" He looked back at her.

"That is none of your business Mai."

"But it is! I'm your assistant! Why can't you ever tell me anything?"

"Mai, unless you want me to lock you in a room with Hara-san I suggest you don't interfere. I, unlike you, don't run into trouble all the time. I am coming back. Meanwhile, stay in the base with everyone else." He walked down the hallway, Lin swiftly following him, leaving a rather angry Mai. _He always asks me to never be alone on cases! I can look after myself, you know! I've been doing it well enough for the past few years!_ She thought angrily as she marched back to base, opened the door, and sat down, still fuming.

"Aww did something happen between you and Naru?" teased Monk.

"He left with Lin. Again. They didn't tell me where they were going."

"Aww are you sad?"

"Don't aww me!" She came up with a new tactic. "Old man!"

"Hey! I am not old, unlike this lady here..." stated Monk, jerking his thumb at Ayako, who started yelling at Monk.

"For your information, I am not old! If anyone is, you are, you fail monk!"

"I'm not a failed monk! I just retired from the monk profession! You self proclaimed priestess!"

"I am a priestess!"

"Then how come your exorcisms never work?"

"I thought I explained that in the last case, idiot!"

Listening to Ayako and Monk fighting was a lot more interesting then just sitting in base, doing nothing. _And if Naru doesn't like it when he comes back, well it's his fault. I swear he only thinks of me as Tea-Maker! He doesn't tell me anything! _Mai thought, then paused for a moment. _Well except for that spoon incident...but it wasn't anything special! He just bent a spoon, not with his mind, with his finger!_ She huffed, and immediately Ayako was on to her, breaking up her fight with Monk.

"You know what they say about people who sigh, Mai?"

"That wasn't a sigh! Anyway, if that sayings true, then I know who you like!"

"Me? I'm not in love with anyone, haha!" Ayako laughed nervously.

"I agree" Monk said, leaning next to Ayako on the back of the sofa. "She's too old, ya see..." He was cut of by a thwack and a very angry Ayako, and another argument started off again, leaving John nervously smiling at the fighting pair. Mai started to doze.

_Mai could feel a slight wind, and opened her eyes. She was outside, but she could still see the hotel, it was some way behind her. But she was more interested in what was in front of her. It was a big pond, but, she noticed, it didn't have any fish, and although it was pretty, it didn't have that many plants around it. She felt someone next to her, and automatically smiled. She turned to see Naru, who was smiling too, but his eyes looked slightly sad, and she felt that something unpleasant was going to happen in this dream. She heard someone else coming, and turned. _

_Coming from the direction of the hotel was a man. With a gasp, Mai realised she recognised the man. It was Sakurako's father, and he held a small baby in his arms, and he was obviously angry. The baby was still crying. Mai realised what he was going to do, and felt anger. She almost immediately felt Naru wrap his arms around her from behind her. She blushed._

"_I'm sorry Mai, but this is a vision from the past, and you can't change anything that happens." She was glad he couldn't see her blushing face. She nodded. The man was by the pond now, and Mai watched unhappily as he slowly lowered the baby in the water. The child cried louder and harder. Tears started rolling down Mai's cheeks. Just as he started to drown the baby, Naru turned her and embedded her face in his chest so she didn't have to watch, but she could still hear the baby crying, and the man cursing, and the water being splashed as the baby kicked. She cried harder, quickly making a wet patch in Naru's shirt._

"_I'm sorry Mai...I'm sorry..." the dream began to fade. _

"Mai! Wake up! Sleepy head." Mai shot up, hitting Monk's forehead with a loud painful crack. "Oww...what was that for..."

"Don't call me sleepy head then!" protested Mai, rubbing her sore forehead. She looked around, and quickly spotted the person who she was looking for.

"Naru! I know what happened to Sakurako's baby and where it is!" Naru looked at her, as impassive as ever. She continued, "Sakurako's father drowned it in the pond nearby."

"Lin made a hitogata of Tokie. However, to use it we would have to lure Sakurako out."

Monk had gotten over his forehead enough to comment, "And to do that we would have to do an exorcism, right?" Naru nodded.

"But Naru! We can't do an exorcism; someone will just end up getting hurt! Why can't we get Masako to channel her again?"

"Hara-san is in no state to channel a spirit, and even is she could then it wouldn't work. I doubt we could get her to pass on just by talking her, but it could help if we told her where Tokie was now."

Ayako stepped in. "On other hands, it may not. Sakurako believes she is still alive and is holding on to the belief that Tokie is too. If we told her that Tokie has been drowned, she may turn more violent. Remember she has the soldiers at her disposal. It looks like we'll have to try another exorcism."

-x-x-x-

"Heavenly god, please allow us to worship you, your soul becomes our heaven and earth..." Mai looked over to a still sleepy Masako. "...there was the word; the word was with god..." Masako gasped and nodded.

"Some ghosts are moving on, and more are coming. It won't be long before she comes."

"Through him all things were made..." John's prayer continued. A cloud seemed to suddenly appear in one part of the room; it distorted into a shape. It took Mai a moment to realise that it was Sakurako. Sakurako looked at them.

"What are you doing...Why do you ignore me, and punish me? Have I not suffered enough?" Naru stood forward. He threw up the hitogata, and everyone watched it as it slowly started to glow, and morph into the shape of a baby. Sakurako reached her arms up to Tokie, and caught her. Sakurako glowed golden too, and Mai watched as Sakurako held her child, and Mai looked at that light, it was so warm, and comforting, and happy. When Mai glanced at Naru, she saw how the golden light made his face look even more handsome. She sighed. Sakurako and Tokie moved on, and the light faded, leaving a dark room with 8 people standing (or sitting) in it. Masako nodded again.

"She is gone..."

Hanayo had asked that they leave the soldiers, as it was good publicity, and they hadn't ever caused trouble. Naru had agreed, he was slightly impatient to proclaim it case closed. The next day they had packed up the equipment, and after most of them waving goodbye they had driven back.

-X-X-X-

Mai sat at her desk, staring at the window. She was supposed to be writing notes on the case to hand to Lin, but she had zoned out.

_That poor woman. It must be so sad to lose your child, and then to hang around looking for her. _Mai shook her head.

"Mai, how many times do I have to repeat? Tea."

Mai jumped up. Naru had even come to the doorway of his office and was leaning on it. _How many times had he asked? No, ordered _she thought, embarrassed at having zoned out.

"Hai!" she ran to the kitchen. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he heard a THUD closely followed by an "owwww!". He sauntered off to the kitchen to inspect the damage she had done this time.


	6. 2 seperation part 1

**So, new case, same story :) **

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Seperation, Part 1

Mai watched as yet another prospective client walked out the door.

"Naru, you could at least have been nicer." She said reproachfully. But instead of an answer all she received was an icy glare, closely followed by yet another order for tea. She sighed; it was going to be another long day at the office. She turned as the she heard the door open again.

"Mai!" greeted Monk as he hugged her.

"Hi Bou-san! Ice coffee, right?" Monk nodded. Mai turned to Ayako. "Tea?"

"Yes please, I heard that tea is very good for your skin" _So that's why Naru's skin is so good..._thought Mai.

"Don't worry about it Ayako. Your skin is a lost cause." She heard Monk say as she went to the kitchen. She made the drinks, and Ayako and Monk paused their fight to drink the drinks. She went to give Naru his tea, but when she turned she found him in the doorway of his office, leaning on the doorframe.

"Ayako, Bou-san, my office is not a café. Go and amuse yourselves somewhere else." He said with another icy glare. Monk waved his hand as though swatting a fly.

"Chill, chill. Actually we came with a case, but if you'd rather we left…" Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Come on guys, spill the beans!" Mai grinned. She loved cases.

"Well, a friend of the family is renovating an old mansion he just bought. But the construction work isn't going as planned. Every time the workers do something the work gets undone during the night."

"What, so if they knocked down a wall, the wall would be there again in the morning?"

"A bit, but they don't knock down walls. They don't want to change the structure of the building. Once they insulated part of the roof, and the next day all the insulation was gone."

"No." Naru said simply. 3 faces fell.

"Naru!" protested Mai. He could at least listen to it all, couldn't he?

"You know, this guy really wants to have it finished. He needs a home for him and his family to live in." Monk said craftily, knowing it would pull on Mai's heartstrings.

"Naru? Why don't you want to take the case?" Mai protested even further.

"It's not interesting enough. Be quiet and go make some tea."

Mai didn't budge. "You're so selfish! Why can't you ever think about other people? This man needs to have a place to live in, and don't his family deserve and beautiful home?"

"They can find another one. Tea, now." Mai folded her arms over her chest. Naru sighed, turned and slammed the door to his office. _He's not getting away that easily._

"Fine. I won't make you tea until you accept!" Mai called. Naru put his head in his hands. He heard Monk and Ayako leave, probably grinning ear to ear.

A few hours later…..

Naru groaned quietly. He needed tea. If he didn't get any soon, he might faint or collapse. It would show Mai not to argue with him, but… Lin would probably be mad at him when he woke up.

"Mai?"

"Yes?" She was clearly enjoying herself, waiting to see how long Naru could last.

"I'll take the case. Now tea. Immediately." She jumped up, and quickly made another cup. He drank it gratefully, but still didn't give her a thank you, or even let her see that he was grateful.

"I'll call Bou-san and Ayako." She said cheerfully, and he heard her on the phone talking to Monk. After a while she put the phone down.

"They'll come back with the details."

And that was how they ended up driving down a motorway, out of Tokyo. As a punishment for earlier, Naru made sure Mai sat in the most uncomfortable place, between him and Lin. Mai was soon bored out of her mind. Lin wouldn't talk, she knew that of that. Naru was reading, and even if she did talk to him, he would probably mutter some infuriating comment. She didn't have view of the window, and even if she did then it wasn't that fun looking at cars zhoom past them. But she wasn't tired in the slightest, so any chance of going to sleep was impossible, and even if she did then she would probably have a vision, and she really wasn't in the mood. After what seemed forever, (only an hour) they had left the motorway, gone down several roads through a town and eventually reached the countryside. They pulled up in a cobble stone yard by a bungalow.

"Is this it?" asked Mai, somewhat disappointed, not noticing Naru go up to a small intercom by a big iron gate. She soon realised her mistake when the gates started to open, and Naru climbed back inside the van. They drove through the gates towards the house.

"Wow." Mai breathed.

"Mai, shut your mouth, you're attracting flies." Naru didn't even look up from his book.

"Ah, you shut your mouth!" She cried. Naru smirked.

"My mouth was closed." Mai glared at him. Naru ignored it.

A young man came out of the house. He bowed. "Hello. My name is Nemoto Otohiko. Thank you for coming to my home."

"My name is Shibuya Kazuya. These are my assistants, Taniyama Mai, and Lin Koujo. Behind us are our co-workers." As if on cue, another car pulled up beside the van. Monk, Ayako, John, Masako and Yasuhara stepped out. Each was introduced, and Otohiko led them to their base.

It was quite a beautiful house, but it was old and in need of repair.

"I'm afraid most of the house is unstable, and I only live in part of the house. I would prefer it if you only went upstairs when you have to. I was hoping to have the house all done up for when my wife and kids come to move in, but I'm worried that when they come this house will still be decrepit." He laughed nervously. "Here is your base." Mai watched him go.

"Mai, Bou-san, John and Yasuhara carry in the equipment. Hara-san and Ayako, run through the house, but don't get lost."

Mai was glad she was carrying equipment in with the others. The base was near the heart of the house, and Mai had no wish to carry tons of equipment in and out, and she was slightly scared she would get lost. The snow had long melted, so there was no chance of a snowball fight either. _How come it's always Ayako and Masako who never have to take equipment in? I get Masako, because she can sense spirits, but why Ayako? I guess I have to because Naru's my boss. _Mai thought, slightly angry and tired. Sitting in a van for an hour with nothing to do had not improved her mood.

Dinner was a simple affair, and afterwards they all retired to base, to enjoy themselves somehow till it was late enough for Naru to let them sleep. Naru was watching monitors, Lin was typing, Yasuhara was talking to John, Monk and Ayako were bickering and Mai…..

"Mai, tea"

Mai dragged her groggy self of the sofa to walk to the door, and was walking to the kitchen, when she realised that she didn't know the way to the kitchen, and didn't know the way back either. She wandered around what seemed like endless corridors.

"Naru? Bou-san? Ayako? John? Masako? Yasuhara? Otohiko? Naru?" she called as she walked around. She had a slight suspicion she was walking in circles, but she couldn't be sure. The only sound was her footsteps echoing off the walls. Mai was slightly scared. She was getting more and more tired, and she didn't really fancy sleeping in a cold corridor. She couldn't tell how long she'd been gone for, and was worrying over the reaction at base when they realised that she had been gone far too long for just tea. _Wait, I swear I've walked down this corridor already…where am I? I wonder if they'll send someone out for me. Even if they do, how will I even know that they'll find me? _Suddenly she heard a voice, calling her name. "Naru!" she ran to the source, and nearly bumped into an angry Naru, but when he saw her he sighed in relief.

"Mai, if you didn't know the way to the kitchen you should of asked someone."

"I'm sorry…."

"What if I hadn't found you? We don't anything about this ghost. It could be like the Miyama case. You attract trouble wherever you go."

"I'm sorry, but this house is so big, and I didn't know that I didn't know the way until I was lost!"

Naru sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "It's this way back." He set off back to base, and Mai followed him. He stopped outside the base door. "You're tired. Go to bed."


	7. 2 seperation part 2

**Thanks to Ariana Taniyama for pointing out our mistake about Lin :) We'll go back and change it sometime. I always assumed that Lin was his first name. Anyways, this is going to be a reasonably short story. We're reserving the scary stuff for the next case *grins evily* enjoy :)**

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Seperation, Part 2

Mai got woken up to a pillow.

"Come on sleepy head, rise and shine!" said Ayako loudly, causing instant discomfort. Mai moved the pillow, sat up and yawned.

"What time is it Ayako….?"

"It's 11am!"

"What? 11? Oh no Naru is going to be so mad at me…" Mai hurriedly got dressed, and dashed to the base. Naru glanced at her as she entered.

"We have some activity already. Yesterday the builders took down the paintings in a room so they could work on the walls. They put the paintings in a locked room. Today all the paintings are back on the walls."

"Couldn't someone have put them back in the night as a joke?"

"The room was locked, and only Otohiko had the key. They were valuable paintings. The door was still locked and it hadn't been forced."

Mai's stomach grumbled suddenly. Naru glanced at her again. "Go get some breakfast, and this time take someone with you."

Mai nodded sheepishly, and left for food with Yasuhara, who was still hungry apparently.

"Er, Mai? The kitchen's this way." Yasuhara pointed in the opposite direction.

"Uh, right." Mai smiled, and walked in the right direction, leading a baffled Yasuhara. After finding the kitchen without too much difficulty, Mai fixed breakfast. Then she made tea and brought it back to the base.

The cameras and mics had already been set up, and Masako and Mai were sent to wander through the house again, clearly Naru wanted to get this case solved as quickly as possible. Monk and Ayako were sent to take temperatures. They had arrived too late last night to do much, other then set up the base and equipment.

"I don't see why we have to do this again. You already did it while the rest of us were being used as slaves." Mai said angrily. After remembering the events of yesterday and now being put in a pair with Masako she was NOT in a good mood.

"I agree. But, if he says we have to…" Masako sighed. She wasn't any happier about this pairing then Mai. They continued to walk in silence.

"Do you sense anything?" Mai asked.

"There is a spirit. It seems sad, but not angry. And it's harmless."

"Well that makes a change. This is so dumb."

"I agree, you are."

"I'm not dumb! You're just jealous!"

"Why would I be jealous of _you_? You're not particularly clever, or talented, or pretty!"

"You're just jealous because I'm Naru's assistant and he calls me by my first name!"

They had stopped in the middle of the corridor and were shouting at each other. Monk and Ayako had rounded the corner after hearing raised voices and were staring at the two girls trying to bite each others heads off.

"Okay, break up the cat fight." He called moving forward to separate them. "I'm sure Naru can hear you." He said with a sly grin. They both blushed and looked at their feet.

They got back to the base, Masako and Mai refusing to acknowledge each other.

"Mai, tea." Naru didn't look up from the files he was reading. Mai stuck her tongue out at Masako as she left. She returned and put the tea in front of him, for once not wanting a "thank you" and sat on the other side of the room to Masako.

Yasuhara chose this moment to walk in. He paused in the doorway.

"What happened here?" He asked. Monk walked to his side and proceeded to explain. An evil grin spread across Yasuhara's face, as he cracked up.

"Mai, Masako, there's no point denying your love any longer." He said innocently. Everyone in the room looked up, even Lin stopped typing. Mai and Masako were both glaring at him, while blushing furiously.

"Yes, it is clear you are extremely attracted to each other. I wouldn't let the fact that you're both girls hold you back. Look at me and Bou-san! Despite our initial differences, we got over them and are in fact about to be married!" He grinned like he was the happiest man in the world. "We're going to adopt a child!" He clutched Monk's hand.

There was a shocked silence. Mai and Masako had stopped blushing and were looking disgusted at the thought of getting married to each other, Monk was silently laughing, Ayako had nearly collapsed, John was looking very uncomfortable, Lin was looking at Yasuhara and Monk suspiciously and even Naru looked slightly shocked, before putting on his mask again. Then Lin smiled, completely shocking Mai. She hadn't known that Lin joked. Monk and Ayako were nearly dying from lack of air, and the only one who completely serious about this was Yasuhara, who looked innocently surprised at everyone's reaction.

"But it's true! We didn't plan to tell you this way, but…..we hope you can all come to the wedding!" Everyone (except Lin, Naru and Yasuhara) was laughing, and it was only broken by Naru.

"I don't you pay to laugh, I pay you to work." _Jeez, can't he take a joke? Kill joy. _Thought Mai angrily. "Hara-san, can you pinpoint where the spirit is?" Masako paused.

"It's somewhere upstairs, I can't tell which room."

"Hara-san, John, I want you to go upstairs and wander around. See if you can pinpoint which room the spirit is in. If you can, exorcise it. Yasuhara, what have you found about this house?"

Yasuhara glanced at a small stack of paper.

"It was built by the Kurosawa family in 1758. It switched when the heir died by falling off the roof. After that the Nagase family owned it, until there was a large fire that ruined most of the house and killed several people, family members and servants. They left it empty till 1872, when the Ogiwara family bought it, and rebuilt it. They owned the house until 1949, when the Nakono family bought it. They were the previous owners, but didn't live in it after one of the sons, and his father, died shortly before his wedding in a car crash." Yasuhara finished.

"So, it the spirit could be the heir who fell off the roof, someone who died in the fire, or either the son or the father who died before the wedding?" Ayako said, not sounding too happy at so many possibilities. Mai was quickly bored, she wasn't really interested in the history of the house, and she was sitting on a comfy sofa…

_Mai looked around. It was dark. Suddenly she felt a hand brush hers and she jumped, but relaxed when she heard Naru._

"_Hello Mai, how are things going?" he was glowing slightly in the dark, and Mai realised that she was too. She smiled brightly._

"_It's good. We're on this case, but you already knew that didn't you?" Naru nodded and smiled. _

"_John's exorcising the spirit right now." _

"_Oh. That seems… pointless. I have something to show you, Mai." He took her arm softly, and turned her so she was looking at the scene._

_It was an old fashioned room. There was a woman standing in the middle of it, sobbing. Mai felt sad, but curious, why was she crying? Mai looked at her hand and realised that she was holding a small leather pouch, and that while she sobbing, she was looking at it. _

"_What's in the bag, Naru?" she asked, but he shook his head. The woman looked over to a corner to the room near Mai and Naru, and Mai could see her eyes, they were filled with sadness and red from crying. She quickly walked to the corner, and pausing for a moment she gripped a floor board. Mai's eyes widened. The woman struggled to move the board, but after a few minutes she had managed to lever it up. Still crying, she looked down, and at the bag, then placed the bag carefully in the floor. She then replaced the floor board, and the dream faded, taking Naru with it (much to Mai's dismay.)_

Mai woke up with a small jolt.

"Mai! Sleeping Beauty awakes!" Monk cried.

"Oh? So who's the prince then?" Yasuhara asked, winking at Monk. Mai blushed. _But he would never be my prince, _she thought. Then she smiled slightly thinking how he would paint his armour black.

"Wait, there is a prince?" Yasuhara sat up straight. Clearly the smile had not gone unnoticed. "Tell us the details!" he glanced at Naru. He didn't look like he was listening, but….

"Yasuhara, do some work and stop messing around." Naru ordered. _So, he was listening_ Yasuhara thought with a smirk.

"Naru I had a dream." Mai blurted, trying to quickly change the subject onto something less dangerous. Naru looked up and signalled to Lin. He then sat next to her and waited.

"Nothing much happened. There was a woman, and she hid a leather bag under the floorboards in one of the rooms. She was crying a lot." Mai's face fell as she remembered how sad the woman looked.

"Anything else?"

"No, but it's pointless exorcising the ghost."

"How do you know that?"

"Er" Mai thought frantically. "It's just a hunch." Naru nodded. There was something more, but he could see she wasn't going to tell him.


	8. 2 seperation part 3

**Sorry this chapter is so short, actually this case is just short. We're having a warm up before making the next story. And loads of people asked frm the Sakurako case if they just left the baby in the pond. the answer, my friends, is YES. Naru decided it was to much effort and a waste of time to drain the pond/lake. Mai did tell the owners of the house in case they wanted to :) **

**Thanks for R&Ring :D yes, i agree, Yasuhara was in fine form :) we have so much fun playing with him. hes like a breath of fresh air :S no, im not being serious**

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Seperation, Part 3

"So, this is the room?" Masako nodded.

"There's a spirit residing here, but when we tried to exorcise it, it pushed us out."

Mai tapped Naru, he turned around. "I think this is the room my dream happened in, Naru."

She uncertainly walked over to the corner. _I think this is the same room….if it is, then there should be the bag under floor, right? _She thought uncertainly. She was nearing the corner, when BAM! Mai was pushed back with invisible hands, and landed on her rear.

"Mai! Are you okay?" Ayako quickly asked. Mai stood up, and dusted herself off.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She laughed nervously. She walked forward, and got pushed back again.

"No! Stay away!" Monk suddenly shouted. Everyone turned to look at Monk. His eyes were dead, and they all realised that Monk was possessed. Monk ran to the corner, and kept Mai back. "Stay away! I won't have you closer!"

"Why?" Naru inquired.

"I won't let you get it! I won't go away! I have to find her!"

"Find who?"

Monk paused for a few moments.

"Who are you?" Naru changed tactic.

"My name is Nakono Seiya."

"Why don't you want to move on?"

"I'm waiting…..searching."

"What for?"

"For my Azusa. I left her too soon….."

"Who is Azusa?"

"My beautiful fiancé…."

"Why aren't you moving on?"

"I told you already! Stop asking questions!"

"Nakono-san, we're trying to help you." Mai said sweetly. Naru's constant stream of questions was not going to work.

"But you're not! You're trying to move me!"

"Why are you waiting for Azusa-san?"

"I left her too early…..I don't want to be parted anymore….."

"Nakono-san, Azusa-san has probably passed on by now."

"She's waiting for me too! We are not going to be separated anymore!"

"Azusa-san has probably moved on by now."

"But she wouldn't!"

"Why not?"

"Because she's waiting for me….."

"Why would she wait?"

"So we can go together! We won't be separated anymore!"

"Nakono-san, Azusa-san has moved on."

"No she hasn't!"

"She moved on and is waiting for you in heaven."

"How will she find me?"

"She will find you. She's waiting for you."

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me on this. Maybe when you get there she'll show you around."

"Are you sure?"

Mai nodded. "I'm sure she's waiting. Now go, you don't want her to wait any longer, do you?"

Seiya/Monk shook his head. He turned golden, and they all saw the spirit of Seiya move on. Monk fell to the ground, and started snoring quietly. Ayako ran to him and checked his was okay.

"Ayako, move him." She looked up to the impassive face of Naru.

"Why?"

"I want to see what's under the floor boards."

With John and Yasuhara's help, they shifted Monk without waking him up.

"Mai, which floorboard was it?" Mai came over and stood next to Naru.

"Um….I think it was that one." She said pointing to one of the wooden boards. Naru knelt down, and levered up the floorboard without difficulty. She peered in the gap. There, nestled against in between two pipes, was the leather pouch that Mai had seen Azusa hide in her dream. Naru picked it up, and opened it. He tipped into his palm an engagement ring. He studied it for a few moments.

-x-x-x-

"So, Azusa-san buried the ring under the floorboards because it made her sad, and Seiya-san became bound to the ring, and was waiting for Azusa-san so they could move into the afterlife together because he was scared that they may not find each other if they go separately. He was trying to stop construction work because he was scared that the ring would be found, and that people would stop him from meeting Azusa-san again, whenever they wanted to or not." Mai finished explaining to Otohiko.

"And he is gone now?" asked Otohiko, looking at the ring, which Mai had polished before giving to him. Mai nodded.

"We convinced him that Azusa-san was waiting for him in heaven and that when he moves on they will be reunited."

"Ah. Very good work. I presume that now the builders can do some work without all their work being undone?" Mai nodded again. "Should I do anything with this ring? Like melt it down or something?"

Mai paused. "It should be fine now. Maybe you could give it to your wife when she comes?"

"That sounds like a good idea. Where is your boss? I need to thank him."

"I think he's securing equipment in the van so it doesn't move around too much on the drive back."

"Ah. Some of his equipment looked very expensive. Tell me, how is Takigawa doing?"

"He's good. He woke up just before I came to tell you about the ghost."

Naru appeared in the doorway. "Mai, we're going. Unless you want to be left behind, of course. I'm sure you can always swap places with Hara-san." Mai jumped up. There was no way she was going to let Masako ride in the van with Naru. She said bye swiftly to Otohiko, and ran to the van. Otohiko thanked Naru, who shrugged it off, and followed Mai to the van.

On the way back, Naru let Mai sit next to window, but she soon got bored, and promptly fell asleep. She got woken up by Naru.

"Mai, close your mouth. I don't want you snoring and disturbing my reading."

"How am I supposed to control what I do in my sleep?"

"I am sure even you can manage closing your mouth."

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"No. Now be quiet."

"Why should I? You're the one who woke me up!"

"You were in danger of snoring."

"I don't snore!"

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"Well, you think that faces can get stuck to windows!"

"Do you want me to prove it to you?" Naru glared at her. Mai laughed nervously.

"No…."

"Then be quiet." Naru returned to his book.

"That narcissistic, tea loving, jerk! How would he like it if I woke him up? Grrr." She muttered, turning back to the window. Naru smiled slightly. Lin chuckled._ Really, they're worse then Bou-san and Ayako._


	9. 3 questionable sanity part 1

**The new case :D better then the last one, definatly. or however you spell that :S thank god for spell check :) anyway, back to the story.**

* * *

Questionable Sanity, Part 1

Mai smiled triumphantly as she made her way into the office. _This time I'm not late! _At least, that's what she thought.

"Mai, explain to me why you are late this time." The emotionless, cool voice of her boss commanded.

"What? I'm not late! 8:00 exactly!" She held up her watch, proving that it was actually 8:00.

"Mai, look at the clock on the wall." she did as he instructed. "Now, if you are capable, read the time for me." Mai flushed. _Of course I could read a clock, I'm not that stupid_. She frowned.

"8:07" She said in a small voice. Naru smirked.

"How long do you think we've been here talking?"

"3 minutes."

"What time does your watch say?"

"8:00" Mai groaned. _The watch had stopped at 8, and in my euphoria I hadn't realised the hands had stopped moving_. Naru smirked again.

"Mai, tea."

He watched her go, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards. _How does she manage to come up with this nonsense all the time? Well, it is amusing. _He shook his head slightly and went back into his office.

Mai brought the tea and then plonked herself at her desk. After going through some files she did her homework. She was bored. Working with two statues didn't help. After a while she got up to make more tea, even though Naru hadn't asked for any. She reached for the tea jar, while tripping over her own feet at the same time.

Naru heard the crash and yelp. Lin poked his head out of his office, but when he saw Naru coming out of his den *ahem* office, he retreated back in. He didn't want to interrupt them more then necessary.

Naru surveyed the kitchen. Mai was sitting on the floor bleeding from several cuts on her arm, around her there was the remains of the tea jar. He crouched in front of her, some of the ceramic shards making a crunch noise under his weight. He sighed, grabbing her other arm and pulling her up. He made his way to the sink dragging Mai with him, then ran the tap and put her arm under it. Finally he went in search of plasters.

Mai was looking at her blood being washed away. When it was all gone she turned the tap of and looked for Naru.

"He can't have gotten far." She muttered under her breath.

"MAI!" Monk called happily, before squeezing her half to death in his bear hug.

"Bou-san-I-can't-breath!" she gasped, wincing as he put pressure on her cuts. The wince was noticed by him.

"Mai? What did you do?" But before she could explain Naru emerged from his office with plasters, and a couple of wipes. He held her arm out, wiping away any more blood then applying the plasters. Mai blushed. She watched him retreat to his office once he was done.

"Mai, are you okay?" John popped up behind Monk's elbow.

"Yeah. I just fell on the tea jar. Oh no! The tea jar!" She ran back to the kitchen , to find that someone, probably Lin, had swept the mess away.

"Now I have to go and buy some more tea." She moaned.

-X-X-X-

After Mai had returned from the nearby shop and made everyone tea Naru came out of the office and sat in his chair at the head of the table. He waited until Mai had handed out the tea and sat down before starting.

"Our client is Ando Dai, a wealthy businessman who recently built a house just outside Tokyo. However him, and his family, have reported paranormal activity since moving in. During the night words are written on the wall, in what looks like blood, saying "help" or "there's nothing wrong with me"." He passed round a couple of photos. "Also one of his children, Dai junior, has seen a woman wandering around the top floor of the house. The cook says that several times the lights have gone out, like a power cut, but it can't have been because the fridge and other electrical appliances still worked. The last thing is that a close friend of the Ando's committed suicide after staying there for a week."

The silence was slightly eerie.

"We will be leaving later today. Any questions?"

"Will it be dangerous for us?" asked John, sounding nervous.

"Possibly" Naru stood up and went back into his office, after ordering everyone to take the equipment to the van. "Mai" he called, standing in the doorway. Masako shot her a jealous look then left with the others.

"Yes?"

"Carry these." He heaped a pile of books and papers into her arms then picked up another pile and lead a staggering Mai to the van. After it was loaded they got into the cars.

"Mai!" Naru called as she tried to climb into Monk's car.

"Hai?"

He beckoned her. She walked over to him as he opened the passenger door to the van. She sighed.

"Clearly you are a danger to yourself, and can't be trusted. So get in."

"I still don't see why-"

"In." There was no use arguing, so she resigned herself to an hour of boredom, while inside feeling quite pleased. Lin's face hinted at a smile, and he wondered if he should call Madoka.

No one was saying anything, Lin too busy driving and Naru was, as per usual, reading something. Mai sighed. This was going to be a long journey…

_Mai woke up in the dark. It muffled her and she felt smothered._

"_Naru?" she called. _

"_I'm right here Mai." He materialised at her side. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled. She smiled back. _

"_Is this to do with the case?" He nodded. Of course, they're always to do with the case. He held her hand, turning her around. The scene flickered in front of them, slowly becoming solid. _

_There was a room. It was dark, and cold. In the corner was a bed and there was a seat under the window, next to little table. That was the only furniture in the room. _

"_Naru? Where are we?" she asked, surprised._

"_Just watch." She nodded._

_The door suddenly opened with a bang. Mai jumped. A young woman was being dragged into the room. It took three men as she was struggling so violently. She scratched at their faces, screaming and sobbing. Mai flinched. Naru looked down at her and gripped her hand tighter. _

_The men dragged her to the bed, where they forced her to lie down, one holding her legs and another her arms, while the third one attempted to tie her down. But she was kicking and trying to bite the men._

"_I'M NOT CRAZY!" she screamed before trying to bite the man again._

"_WAIT TILL MY UNCLE HEARS OF THIS, HE'LL PUNISH YOU FOR TREATING ME THIS WAY!" she screamed again. The man trying to tie her down stopped and hit her face. _

"_It was your uncle who ordered for this to happen!" The man growled. The woman stopped struggling at the news._

"_Uncle?" she whispered, her voice breaking. She cried even more, but had stopped screaming. The men finished tying her down. _

"_Let's leave her for a couple of hours, get her to calm down." The leader said. The woman whimpered as the door was shut leaving her in total darkness._

"_I think that's enough." Naru said quietly, pulling the distraught Mai into his arms. The scene faded._

"_Mai? Tell N-me about the dream, and be careful as you wake up. Try not to move too much or make a lot of noise when you make up, okay?" Mai nodded. He winked at her, and then faded._

Mai opened her eyes to a view of the windscreen. She thought about moving so she was in a more comfortable position, but remembered Naru's words in her dream. She became aware of something warm next to her. She glanced sideways, and saw black. She nearly yelled and jumped back, but Naru's words came back to her again. The yell became a small, embarrassed squeak. Lin glanced at her.

"Can you try to be quiet? He's asleep, and he doesn't get enough sleep as it is." Lin said quietly.

Mai blushed even harder, turning a peculiar shade of red. _Oooooo….if Masako could see me now! That would get her so jealous. _Mai thought. _Wait; don't tell me I have to stay in this position till Naru wakes up? What will his reaction be when he wakes up? I think I can move slightly so I'm more comfortable…._She shifted slightly so it was less embarrassing, and more comfortable.

After a while they drew up next to a very traditional, large house. A middle-aged man in a suit came out. He greeted the team.

"Hello, my name is Ando Dai. I thank you for coming to my home. Would you like to eat first, or do you want me to show you to your rooms?"

"We would like to set up base first." Naru answered. Mai felt slightly disappointed. She was hungry, and didn't fancy dragging equipment to the base on a nearly empty stomach. Dai led them into the house, and showed them the base, and where they would be sleeping. They slowly set up base, the time dragging for Mai. Once they had finally set things up, it was dark outside and Mai was ravenous and her legs and arms ached. Her stomach complained loudly. Monk used this as an excuse to eat food.

"You may not be hungry, Naru, but everyone else is. Mai looks as if she is going to die soon." Naru gave Mai a glance.

"She won't, but we'll go anyway."


	10. 3 questionable sanity part 2

**Hello! :) the next chapter. We're having a lot of fun with this *snickers* though, we probably should be nicer to our characters, but o well. it would make the story bad if we were nice.**

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Questionable Sanity, part 2

Mai handed Lin a clipboard.

"All the temperatures seem normal. In all of the rooms."

Suddenly Masako ran into the room, evidently upset.

"Naru!" He only gave her a passing glare. Monk frowned.

"Masako, where's Ayako?" Monk asked, urgently.

"She's stuck in a room! The door's locked and she's stuck there!"

Naru looked over the screen of monitors. One had a black screen.

"Masako, which room?" Monk asked. Masako ran out, and everyone followed. Soon they came to a door.

"Ayako!" Monk shouted through the door.

"I'm stuck!" she cried back.

"Hara-san, what happened?" Naru asked.

"She went into the room, and suddenly the door closed, and now it won't open!" Naru eyes looked over the door. There was no lock.

"Ayako, stand back!" Monk shouted, and charged at the door, only gaining him a sore shoulder.

"Try harder, idiot!" Ayako yelled.

"The door won't budge!"

"Then how do you expect me to get out of here?"

I'll go get Dai-san!" said John quickly, and ran back in search of him.

"Naru, what should we do?" Mai asked.

"Lin?" Lin nodded, took a run up and kicked the door. It shook slightly, but stayed put. Everyone stared at the door, Lin included.

"This is unusual. We shouldn't have gotten this amount of activity this quickly." Monk glared at Naru, but it was no match for Naru's glare.

"How do we get Ayako out, dammit?"

"I suggest we wait here for Dai."

Mai walked up to the door. "Ayako?" she called.

"Yes?"

"How are things in there?" There was a pause.

"This room smells funny." Mai paused, and leaned closer to the door. Monk slid down so he was sitting on the floor.

"You know," Mai whispered into the door, cupping her mouth so that only Ayako could hear her, "Naru hasn't asked me for any tea since we got here."

"That must be the longest time he's gone without tea." Whispered back Ayako. Masako strode over to Mai.

"Mai, what are you doing?"

"Talking to Ayako, duh." Mai shot her a look.

"It looks silly."

"Well it's a nice thing to do!"

"It's not nice to whisper, even if it is to a door." Mai glared at her and was about to reply when they were interrupted by Dai coming down the corridor, closely followed by John.

"What is it?" Dai asked, surprised to find the whole of SPR, minus Ayako, grouped round the door.

"One of my employees, Mitsuzake-san, has become locked in here." Naru stated coldly.

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry. Is there some way I can help?" asked the man, looking slightly worried.

"Do you have anything we can break the door with?"

"Um….I have an shovel. Wait, better, I have an axe!" he ran off to get it. Naru ran his hand through his hair.

"What's going on out there?" Ayako called.

"We're trying to open the door. Lin's kick didn't work! So, Dai-san's gone to get an axe!" Mai replied. There was silence on the other side.

"Ayako?"

"Yes, I'm here. I just get the feeling the axe isn't going to do much." She said, sounding resigned.

Said axe arrived, with Dai following just behind. He handed the axe to Lin, who looked the strongest. The axe was swung at the door….

It bounced off. Naru sighed.

"The door is not going to be forced open. It looks like we'll have to wait for the spirit to open it."

"What?" yelled Ayako, "That could be days!"

"I highly doubt that."

"I'll stay here and talk to you until the door opens, how about that?" Mai asked.

"Okay…."

So Monk and Mai stayed and talked to Ayako, while everyone else went back to base.

Naru's mind was racing. He had to get Ayako out of there somehow. _How long was it before a person died from lack of water? 3 days. We need to get food and water to her. Why is the ghost attacking so soon? Something's not right. _

It had been 3 hours. Ayako was feeling thirsty. And Monk was starting to get on her nerves. Though it was sweet that he'd volunteered to stay. She sat with her back to the door, staring at the room. It was empty. Completely empty.

_How does it feel being alone? And trapped? _A voice asked. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Ayako squeaked in fear.

"Ayako?" Monk's voice called.

"Bou-san! I'm not alone, the ghost, it's here!" She was scared, though she'd never admit that to him. She could hear him pounding on the door.

"What's it doing?" shouted Mai.

"It talks…." Whispered Ayako fearfully. The room was dark; all the light came from one rather grubby window; and it smelt old and disused. She heard Monk curse the door for not opening.

_You don't like it do, you? _Said the voice again.

"Get me out of here!" screamed Ayako.

"We're trying!" Despite Monk's frequent poundings the door didn't budge at all. Suddenly the door flew open, hitting Monk in the face, much to Ayako's, Monk's and Mai's surprise. Back in base, Lin noticed that the camera had started working again, showing Ayako getting fussed over by Mai.

"Ayako? Are you okay?" Mai asked. Ayako nodded, and they headed back to base, and got there, much to everyone's relief. Ayako left to the kitchen to get a drink and food with Monk, who was more then happy to get the chance to eat.

_She was lucky. _A quick glance showed Mai that no-one else heard the voice. _She let her go. _Said the voice in Mai's head. Mai ignored it.

"Mai, tea."

_Are you his dog? _The voice asked slyly, relishing the annoyance she felt. Mai clenched her jaw.

"Mai, did you hear me? Tea, now."

_Definitely his dog. _The voice cackled.

"Shut up." Mai muttered, spinning on her heel and slamming the door as she walked out. Monk stared after her.

"Is she okay?" he muttered to Ayako, who also noticed something was not quite right.

"Did she tell _Naru _to shut up?" They both shook their heads.

Mai was angry. First she was angry at this new voice in her head, which no one else seemed to be able to hear, and secondly at herself. She shouldn't let it aggravate her. She hadn't meant to say shut up out loud, she didn't want it to seem as though she told Naru to shut up, even if she did wish that he would give her more respect. But he was Naru. Naru didn't give respect to _anyone. _She stared at the kettle as the water boiled.

_I can't believe you're actually doing it. _The voice teased.

"He pays me to make tea." Mai said to the air and voice, willing it to shut up. "He pays me." She quickly made the tea, and hurried back. Naru took the tea, no thank you as usual, but he did give her an odd look.

_He doesn't even say thank you. _The voice rang through Mai's mind. _What bad manners._

"He doesn't have any manners." She said quietly, so no one else would hear her. The voice didn't reply, and she was glad that it had actually shut up for once.

_I heard that. _Another maniacal laugh. Mai ground her teeth but didn't say anything.

_I can hear ALL your thoughts. Even the ones you wish no one would ever hear. _A giggle this time. Mai blushed; she knew which thoughts she'd rather keep to herself. Mostly the ones to do with…No, it could hear her thoughts.

"Mai, are you okay?" asked John.

"Haha, yeah I'm good. Why?" Mai lied swiftly. _You wish. _

"Nothing." But he gave her a worried look.

"If you have nothing better to do, you can go and collect the tape from the camera in the living room."

_More work, Tut tut. He really doesn't care about your feelings, does he?_

"SHUT UP!" Mai yelled. Everyone gave her a worried look.

"Mai…." Started Ayako, but Mai stalked out and slammed the door behind her.

"Just shut up…." Mai said. _Ohh, touched a nerve. Why is it so important, I wonder… _A giggle again.

Mai managed to collect the tape without the voice annoying her again.

_You know, they think you're going mad. _Taunted the voice.

"I'm not." _But will they believe you?_

When she got back to base, Naru looked carefully at Mai. He could tell something was up, but he couldn't be sure of what.

"Mai, go to bed." _See, he orders you around like you're his slave._

"It doesn't matter." Mumbled Mai. She was more then happy to go to bed, although whenever the voice would let her sleep was a different matter. _How can you go to bed anyway? It's still light. He just doesn't care. It's always Mai, this and Mai, that. You shouldn't put up with it._

"He's my boss." Mai said as she pulled on her pyjamas. Now that she was alone she felt less embarrassed.

_I bet you wish it was more._

Mai blushed, but managed to keep her voice steady. "No, I don't."

_I can hear your thoughts, remember? _

Mai sank her face into her pillow, and slipped off into sleep.

Back in base….

"What do you think is up with Mai?" asked Ayako.

"I can't say." Replied Naru in a monotone, still staring at the door.

"Do you think it's possession?"

"We'll see."


	11. 3 questionable sanity part 3

**The next chapter. I know, pretty quick, but I can't wait to see what happens :) I mean, I should know but...it's not the same untill it's written down. We're so excited. I like this one :) Without further delay, *flourishes* PART 3 dah dah**

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Questionable Sanity, Part 3

_Mai could feel ropes, tying her down and biting into her skin. The door to the room was flung open, and three men came in. Suddenly Mai became very scared, she feared those men. One grabbed her wrists, another her ankles and the last one untied the ropes. She struggled, thrashing and trying to kick or hit one of the men. She tried to bite on of their hands, but she couldn't reach._

"_Stop it! Where are you taking me? STOP!" Mai could hear herself yelling, her voice harsh. The men half dragged, half carried her out of the room. Mai could feel her energy weaken as she tried to get free, until she went limp and started crying. What had she done to deserve this? _

_They took her down the corridor, dragging her towards a room that was completely bare, except for what looked like an operating table in the middle. The room was covered in tiles, so it sparkled white. Mai felt fear and nausea rise in her. She screamed and struggled more. She couldn't go in that room. They men manhandled her in, and she heard the door close behind her._

"_NOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed._

Naru had been sitting in the base watching the monitors. All was quiet, the spirit wasn't active at the moment. He thought back to Mai, why had she acted so strangely? It wasn't like her to tell anyone to shut up, least of all him.

A piercing scream shattered the silence.

"Mai?" He got up and ran to her room. _What has happened this time? _She was a danger magnet, he knew, and he should be protecting her. She screamed again as he flung open the door and crossed to her bed.

"Mai!" He shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. Ayako and Masako were looking around in shock, still groggy from having just woken up. He shook her again.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She shot bolt upright, and wrapped her arms around the nearest person, sobbing into their chest. Which happened to be Naru. _What do I do? _He thought.

"Please, don't make me go there!" she sobbed into his shirt._ Go where? I wonder what she dreamed about this time. _

Awkwardly, he put his arms around her (gaining a glare from Masako). When her sobs started to subside he eased her away and put his hands on her shoulders. She blushed when she realised it was Naru's shirt she'd given a soaking.

"Mai, what happened?"

"It was so scary, I was…." _Don't tell them. _The voice was not mocking, but icily serious. Naru saw her eyes widen.

"Mai, what happened?" Monk touched Naru's shoulder.

"Leave her for now. I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready." Naru sighed, and took his hands away. He stood up, and left for the base, leaving the others to comfort Mai. He never was really good at that. _It couldn't have been scarier then the dream she had at Miyama Mansion, so why was she unable to tell us? Maybe I should get some tea. It calmed her down last time. _He stood up from his chair, and strode to the kitchen, quickly working out where everything was. _Once I give this to her, I need to change my shirt. _

Mai looked up, surprised as Naru came in again, carrying a cup of tea. It reminded her of the Urado case, but this time he wasn't wearing pyjamas. _What, he wears pyjamas? I didn't even think he slept. _Mocked the voice, however she suppressed it and took the tea. She blushed slightly as his fingers brushed hers.

_You're so into him._

Mai chocked on her sip. _I'm not going to lose my cool, _thought Mai determinedly, _not in front of Naru._

_We'll see about that. You did it earlier. _

Mai heard Ayako ask if she was okay. She nodded. She took another sip. "Thank you." She said to Naru, who nodded, and left to change.

Nobody felt like going back to sleep afterwards, so they all trudged into the base looking rather tired and disgruntled. Monk checked his watch, 6:30. He groaned. Naru had returned in a different but identical shirt that he had picked out of his seemingly endless collection. Mai was sitting next to him looking dazed and clutching her tea cup.

"Takigawa and Brown-san, go and exorcise the room Ayako was trapped in. Hara-san and Ayako, go and collect the tapes from all the cameras." They all grumbled, but went to do what they were told. "Lin, keep an eye on Takigawa and Brown-san." Lin nodded.

Naru stood up.

"And me?" He looked down at his second assistant.

"Tea." He opened the door to the base for her, and they both walked to the kitchen in silence.

"Sit down." Mai did as she was told. _Still no please? And after your dream too. _Mai ignored the voice.

"What was your dream?" He took her empty cup and refilled it, handing it back to her. _Not so cold as his exterior suggests. _The voice commented.

"Well, I was the girl this time-"

"This time? Mai, I told you to tell me if you had a dream." He sighed. _Does she ever listen to me? _

"But you were asleep!" She protested. He thought back to when he had woken up with Mai leaning on him. For once he didn't argue back.

"Anyway, I was-" Her mouth had clamped shut. "Mmmhmmmhmhmmm!"

"Mai, open your mouth. Even someone of your stupidity should realise that you can't talk with your mouth shut."

Mai tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't, and she heard the voice again. _Do not speak to him of the dream._

Mai felt angry. Why couldn't she tell Naru of her dream? Naru was waiting for a response, so she quickly shook her head and drank some more tea.

_It must have been quite traumatic to provoke such a reaction as this. _Naru thought as he watched Mai drink her tea too fast. _She didn't even shout at me for calling her stupid. _He got up to leave. _Wait, my tea…_

Mai stood up too. Then, when Naru stopped, she stopped. _What are you, his puppy? You don't have to do everything he does. _

"Grrr." Mai said under her breath.

"Mai, tea." He said, sitting back down. Mai sighed. But she made his tea anyway. They walked back to base.

"Hey, Mai, why didn't you make me tea? Or were you to busy doing something else?" Monk grinned. She scowled at him, but didn't have time to reply when Ayako stabbed him with her elbow.

"Pervert"She said. Masako giggled behind her kimono sleeve. John looked away, he hated it when they fought, even if they didn't mean it. It was just their way of showing their feelings. But why did they have to do it so violently?

"So, what was your dream about?" he said, trying to stop the beating up Monk was currently receiving. Ayako let Monk scuttle away, turning to Mai curiously. Naru listened closely, while giving the impression he wasn't, to see how she would react.

_What do I do? I can't tell them, my mouth will clamp shut again…_

_Too right it will._

_Think, Mai think._

She looked up at Monk. "Well, I was.." her voice cracked and she started crying. Monk, feeling guilty, didn't press the matter, and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, it's just too…." She got out in between sobs. _You may have overdone it a little _they voice said sarcastically.

Naru looked at her from the corner of his eye. _Why won't she tell us? It's not that she's too emotionally upset over it, she's faking crying. I wonder…_

"Mai." He called. She followed him out of the room. Ayako and Monk grinned to each other. He went into her bedroom, and sat her down on the bed.

"Now, why won't you tell me what you saw?"

Mai opened her mouth to tell him, but it instantly clamped shut again.

"I. Can't." she managed to wrestle out of her lips.

"Why not? I'm not scary. Rather the opposite I think." This irked her.

"Why you!"

"So your mouth does work. Explain."

"She. Won't. Let. Me." He raised his eyebrow.

"She?" Mai nodded. "Who is she?"

But Mai's mouth was fighting against her. She shook her head, signalling she couldn't say any more.


	12. 3 questionable sanity part 4

**The next installment. I'm so excited :) writting the ghost is really fun. thanks for reading and reviewing :) and if you have read and haven't reviewed, feel free! hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge :D the next chapter is coming soon :D i have been writing my socks off coz i just can't stop. i should probably slow down and think a bit... anyway, ill stop ranting, and leave you to enjoy the story.**

* * *

Questionable Sanity, Part 4

Mai was having trouble sleeping. She could not get the screams from her last dreams out of her head. She sighed, and checked the clock. 2:30. She groaned and turned over. Half an hour later she got up, and stumbled into the base.

"Mai? What are you doing?" Naru looked up from his file. She tripped over her feet. "Mai, you should really get some sleep." She looked up it him with her confused big eyes. He sighed, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to the sofa.

"Sleep" he commanded. Mai rolled her eyes. _Wait, where's Lin? This might be my only opportunity to tell Naru about the dream without the others thinking I'm nuts. Do not speak of the dream, do not speak of the dream. THERE HAS TO BE A FLAW SOMEWHERE! Do not speak of the…I've got it!_

"Naru, I am not insane." Mai started, and Naru flashed her a look which showed that he clearly disagreed with that statement. She took a deep breath. And grabbed one of the files and a pen.

"Mai, you are not drawing on the files. Now go to sleep." _Why does he always have to guess what I'm going to do? _Mai grumbled.

"Give it back!" She shouted at him, snatching the file out of his hands. She proceeded to draw her dream.

"Is that supposed to be a person?" Naru asked, trying not to smile at her lack of drawing skills.

"It's a stickman woman." Defended Mai. She finished drawing her first dream and moved onto the second. Once she was done, Naru grabbed the file and looked at it with interest.

_Interesting. I knew you would manage to get past such little difficulties. You are fun to play with. _Mai clenched her jaw in anger to prevent her yelling something like 'shut up!'. Naru noticed.

"Mai, go to bed."

"But I'm not sleepy!"

"Then lie down on the sofa." Mai grumbled, but did so. _He's your boss, not your General._

"I know" mumbled Mai. Naru paid full attention to his work, not speaking to Mai once. She became incredibly bored. _If you're bored, go hug him or something. _Mai blushed at the thought of hugging Naru. _You did it earlier. _

_That was different. _Thought back Mai.

_You still hugged him. _

_Shut up. I think I'll go to sleep. _

_I thought you said you weren't tired? Or did you only say that so you could be in the same room as him?_

_I'm tired of hearing your voice. _

_I'm tired of hearing your daydreams. _Mai ignored it and fell asleep.

"_Mai?" Naru asked. He smiled at her. _

"_Naru!" Mai grinned back. If only the non-dream Naru would smile._

"_If only he would…" He sighed. Mai frowned. _

"_What are you showing me today?"_

"_Remember Mai, I don't show you, I guide you." Mai sighed._

"_Pretty much the same.." she muttered. He grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. _

_The scene was in the house again, but this time in the dinning room. A family was having dinner. Suddenly the man jumped up. He was middle aged, and his hair was going grey. _

"_What was that?" _

"_What was what, Fumiki?" The woman who sat next to him looked confused. _

"_Did you just say that?" He said to his youngest son who looked at him confusedly. _

"_Say what Daddy? Mummy, what's going on?" The mother didn't answer but looked at the father like he was going crazy. _

"_Wataru, take your siblings to bed." She said. "Fumiki, what's wrong with you?"_

"_How dare you!"_

"_Wh-what?"_

"_What do you mean? And after everything we've been through too." The woman clearly thought he was going crazy._

"_Kasumi, where have the kids gone?" The man sat down, and looked confused. _

"_I sent them to bed."_

"_But they were here just now. When did they go?"_

"_A couple of minutes ago."_

"_Oh.." The scene morphed into a different one. The middle aged man was pacing the kitchen. _

"_I must be going crazy." He muttered. A woman appeared in the corner of the room. Mai shivered, it was freezing. The man's breath shouldn't be visible. _

"_Now I'm seeing people." The ghost morphed into the shadow of his wife. "Kasumi?" He asked, reaching out to her. His hand passed through. _

"_Kasumi, I'm sorry. I never meant to drive you away. I love you." The ghost laughed. Mai shivered as she recognised the laugh. The man had tears streaming down his face. _

"_I-I love you." He whispered as the ghost faded away. He staggered to a cupboard. _

"_NO!" Mai reached out as she realised what he was going to do. _

"_Mai, there is nothing you can do to help him." Naru said sadly. She sobbed as the man grabbed a knife and stabbed himself. _

"_I think it's time to wake up now." The dream faded. _

Everyone looked up as Mai called out.

"NO!" She reached out in her sleep.

"Mai!" John, Ayako and Monk called. They moved forward but Naru beat them there.

"Mai, wake up!" He shook her gently.

"Naru!" she called out, sobbing.

"Mai, it's okay. What was the dream this time." Mai shook her head. "I see." He stood up, leaving the others to comfort Mai as usual. He grabbed a piece of paper and flipped it over to the clean side, placing it in front of her. He grabbed his pen and gave it to her.

"Naru, what…..." Monk started, but Mai nodded and started to draw her dream. Everyone watched her as she drew, stickman style, the man mishearing his wife, talking to the ghost, and finally…with a knife. Monk bear-hugged her once she was done. "Aww, poor you! Come to daddy!"

"You're not my daddy!" Mai wrestled out of his arms.

"Mai, why are you drawing your dreams?" Masako asked, mouth behind sleeve.

"Because…."Mai's mouth clamped shut. "Mhmmhmmmmhmhm!"

"Mai, that's not funny." Said Masako.

"I know!" protested Mai.

"John." Said Naru suddenly. John nodded.

"Wait, what?" asked Mai. She hadn't noticed that John was in his priest clothes.

Ayako closed the curtains, and the room became quite dark. Mai was left standing in the middle of the room with John in front of her. Everyone else leaned against the walls. She realised that they were going to exorcise her.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done-"

Mai's eyes became blank. "You will not get rid of me. I do not give up that easily!" And she laughed the maniacal laugh.

"-on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us for our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. In principio."

Mai sagged to the floor. Ayako ran to support her.

"Mai? Do you feel alright?" She asked, looking down at the young girl.

"Yeah, help me to stand please." Ayako remained by her side, Monk was on her other.

"Hara-san, can you feel where the spirit is now?"

Masako nodded. "She's in the-no, wait…the kitchen-the master bedroom-the living room-the dinning room…" Masako looked confused.

"How is she moving around that quickly?"

"She's not moving around, she's in the different rooms at the same time."

"What? Is that even possible?" cried Mai.

"It's not…normal. I've never heard of this before. But, as it is happening, it must be possible."

There was a knock on the base door, and everyone turned, to see the door open slowly…and Yasuhara enter the room.

"Hey guys!" he called cheerfully.

"Yasuhara!"

Naru walked over to Yasuhara. "The information." He said, holding his hand out. Yasuhara gave him a folder. Yasuhara gave a summary, as Naru flicked through.

"The house was built in 1643, by the Yoshida family. They were a wealthy but troubled family. The man who built it killed his wife and committed suicide afterwards. The house passed onto the son, who married and had two daughters and a son. The daughters married and moved away, the son, Fumiki, inherited the house. However one of the daughters, Emiho, died in a house fire. Her husband and 4 of her children died with her. One daughter, Aika, survived. She went to live in with her uncle Fumiki in this house."

Mai gasped. Where had she heard that name before? Her dream…

"However nobody knows what happened to her after she moved here. There are no records of anyone having seen her at all. Then, several years later Fumiki started to go mad. His wife left him, taking the children with her, and he committed suicide."

"Like in my dream." Mai said sadly. Ayako rubbed her arm comfortingly.

"After that the house has been rumoured to have been haunted. The next family who moved in was the Sakamoto family. The wife committed suicide, but the husband remarried some years later. The new wife killed the only child of the ex-wife. She also committed suicide later. The Sakamoto family moved out. There have been various families which have moved in, only to move out after someone committed suicide."

"Why would anyone want to live here after all those deaths?"Mai asked, worriedly looking round to see if anyone was on the verge of suicide.

'_So, you found out about the families, but not about me. Maybe you should have tried harder. It's too late now, after all._'

The voice came from everywhere at once. Lin unplugged the headphones so everyone could hear it come from every single microphone in the house simultaneously.

"She's here," Masako breathed.


	13. 3 questionable sanity part 5

**The next chapter. Within a day. We're so into this story :D and we love the ghost. She's so fun to write. Probably because she's-*O's brain whires* wait, we can't be giving away any secrets! :) sorry for making Yasuhara a bit of a scaredy cat (for yasu fans), but tbh we don't blame him for being scared. I would be terrified. I should probably shut up and leave you guys to read :S sorry :)**

**Also, in the bit where there is writing **_that looks like this for _**no apparant reason, this is because she is thinking the two things at the same time. We did try to have to columns next to each other, but fanfiction seems to delete unnessecary spaces, so it came out as a very confusing paragraph. writting in italic is one set of thoughts, while writing in bold is another set of thoughts. hope this is not to confusing :)**

* * *

Questionable Sanity, Part 5

After a maniacal laugh the voice said no more. Everyone was frozen, except Naru, who was sitting with his legs and arms crossed looking unfazed. He untwined his arms and started to think, holding his chin between his thumb and index finger.

"What did she mean by 'it's too late'?" asked Mai.

"She was either trying to scare us or she will stop us from leaving." Mai and Yasuhara paled. _Oh, brilliant, just what we need, to be locked in._

"John, Yasuhara and Takigawa, check on Ando-san. Try to remove him and his family."

The trio nodded and set off. Yasuhara shivered.

"This is creepy."

"It's not as bad as the Urado case." Monk replied, though he didn't look that comfortable either.

"I'm sure everything will be fine." John tried to reassure them, and himself. Though it wasn't working. They walked onwards, each occupied by their own thoughts.

"Well, where are they?" Monk didn't disguise the annoyance in his voice.

"Let's try upstairs." They wandered through the house, eventually locating the family in one of the bedrooms.

"Yes?" Dai stood up.

"We would like you to leave, for your safety and to help our investigation to go faster."

* * *

_I watched them with my many eyes. Three of them left the room they called 'base' and wondered round the house. 'What are they doing?' I frowned, causing several foreheads to wrinkle. _

_I watched as they made their way through the house. They said something. My ears strained. _

"_This is creepy." The one with glasses said. I smiled in satisfaction. Half of my bodies kept an eye on the ones in base. The other half focused on the trio. _

"_It's not as bad as the Urado case." The one with _**The young man with the blue eyes and a weird **_the strange hairstyle commented. What was his _**attraction to black asked the kimono wearing girl**_ name? Bou-san, or Takigawa. _**where I was. One of my brains supplied the names **_After a while they wandered upstairs, looking in _**Naru and Masako or Hara-san. Presumably Hara**_ various rooms, until they came to the one the _**was her surname. She looked confused.**_ family who currently owned the house in. _**"I can sense her everywhere. She's got so many **_"Yes?" The man stood up. Ando Dai. _**bodies. It's too confusing." Mai started to comfort **_"We would like you to leave, for your safety and _**Hara Masako. The red haired woman looked glum,**_ to help our investigation go faster." Ando Dai _**Naru (what an odd name) was reading the file**_ nodded. 'Good, they will just get in the way and _**while the tall man with hair covering half his face **_now I can focus on this new group of people.' _**carried on typing. There was silence in the room. **(A/N: see the top of the page for explantation if you are confused =] )

_The family left the house. 'Now, to have some fun!' I laughed in anticipation. _

* * *

"What was that?" Yasuhara squeaked as the ghosts laugh resonated through the house.

"Let's get back quickly, I'm nervous." John said. They walked hurriedly back to base.

"Did they get out okay?" Mai immediately asked. They simultaneously nodded. She breathed out a sigh of relief.

"No one is to go _anywhere _on their own. Even if it is to wash, make sure someone is at least outside the door, if not in the room. Now, we need to isolate the spirits bodies and exorcise them one by one. Takigawa and John are you prepared for that? Ayako are there any suitable trees nearby?"

Before they could answer though all the doors and the windows in the building started opening and slamming shut in perfect time with each other. Lin gasped and pointed at the monitor screens. SPR grouped around them. In front of each camera was a woman. They all grinned crazily at the same time before drifting closer. One screen went blank. The temperature readings where jumping around.

'_15 eyes originally. One down, 14 left to go. How long before they run? How long till they scream?' _The voice sang, then screamed. They clapped their hands over their ears. The inhuman scream was replaced by a mad laugh. The women on the 14 remaining screens disappeared. The house returned to normal.

Everyone blinked. Ayako and Monk had grabbed each other during the scream, and let go immediately embarrassed. Masako fainted onto John and Yasuhara. Mai was squeezing Naru's arm so hard he winced. She let go looking sheepish. Lin looked at his charge worriedly. This seemed just the case Naru would get seriously hurt in. Naru's face remained expressionless, but his mind was racing. _For once, a challenge. _

"We will start immediately." He decided. He looked at Lin, who nodded.

* * *

_I chuckled. Exorcise me? Not likely. But they did intrigue me. I thought for a second, different brains putting in different suggestions. Finally I decided. I would play along with this, though of course the exorcism wouldn't have much affect. _

_I observed them. They were still in base. _

"_Ayako are there any suitable trees nearby?" Naru asked. I'm going to have to ask him about that name. I remembered that girls memories, though I hadn't possessed her completely, I still saw some. It seemed that in all of them he was called Naru. I had liked her. Even though she did get angry about this boy. I remembered the way her/my/our heart had beaten faster when his fingers had brushed hers/mine/ours. I knew her weakness. _

_But what about the others. I didn't want to hurt them yet. Though ultimately I would have to. It was good to know what would help me when that happened, these people were stronger then anyone else in this house had been. _

_The red haired woman. I remembered how Mai and that Bou-san had stayed with her. Was that the answer? I sifted through my memories of Mai's memories that I had seen. There was a strange feeling attached to those two. A fuzzy warm feeling. Family. Yes, I had their weaknesses. It would seem Mai had many. _

_Family. I smiled, but the smile soon faded into a sob. I had lost mine, and my uncle had betrayed me. Tears rolled down my cheeks. One tear splashed onto the floor. They all looked up as there was the sound of my tear hitting many floorboards._

* * *

Mai jumped. As did pretty much everyone else, minus the usual. Lin and Naru just looked up. Ayako grabbed Monk's arm as the noise came again.

"What is that?" Yasuhara asked calmly, though he did look baffled.

"It sounds like water…" Masako said (A/N: she would know after crying over Naru mwahahaha! No, we're not that nasty =] ) She was interrupted by the sound of many people stifling a sob at the same time.

"She's crying!" cried Mai. _I know she's a ghost, but I still feel sorry for her. Something must have happened for her to hang around and actually cry about it. How many ghosts have we heard cry?_

Ayako and Monk had stopped fighting (A/N: We're not going to write in every single fight of theirs, it would take too much time. But you can imagine them doing it in the background most of the time) to both look at Mai.

Suddenly there was the sound of crying from all around. Mai ran out the door. _I have to help her! _She thought desperately.

Naru swore in English and followed her. He didn't have to go far, she had stopped just round the corner, so he barrelled straight into her.

Everyone back in the base heard a crash, and soon after "OW!". Yasuhara grinned. Ayako got up and found both Naru and Mai sprawled on the ground.

"You could look where you're going!" Mai screamed at Naru, jumping up. Monk quickly restrained her before she could do any damage. They needed him at the moment, and having his head kicked in probably wouldn't be too helpful.

"You could not stop in the middle of the corridor." He said crossly, dusting himself off. They glared at each other.

"And now she's gone!" Mai continued, sending Naru evils.

"Mai, I specifically _told _you not to go anywhere on your own. This ghost is dangerous. You could have been hurt." Naru was sending death glares of his own.

Everyone was gathered in the corridor. John laughed nervously. Even the ghost had stopped crying to watch this scene.

"Like you care! I am the _great_ Shibuya Kazuya and I have no feeling's because I am above them, and any I do I have to suppress because my pride couldn't take being AVERAGE!" Mai and Naru were so worked up they didn't notice Masako faint after saying that all of the ghost was here. The others looked around nervously.

"Well, I am great." Naru was struggling with his cool façade.

"And I have to have the last word! Wow, you own your own company! And you have some amount of brain, and good looks! But you're still a EGOTISTICAL, NARCASSISTIC JERK!" Naru didn't reply. "I hate you." She whispered. She stormed back into the base, with Ayako, Monk (carrying the unconscious Masako), John and Yasuhara. Naru didn't move.

5 minutes later Naru still hadn't moved a muscle. Lin stood next to him, not moving either.

"You should be kinder to her. She was possessed, and you know how she feels about other people's feelings." He said quietly, looking at his charge.

Back in base Mai was sobbing into Ayako's arms while Monk rubbed her back. John and Yasuhara stood next to her saying comforting words, and even Masako smiled at her sadly and tried to say something comforting.

* * *

_I stopped crying and watched them fight. My bodies gravitated towards that corridor, interested. They were both trying to stare each other down, when they started shouting at each other again. After a while Mai stormed off, with the others following her. Naru stood there, watching her go. _

_I peeked at his thoughts, I couldn't resist. But there was nothing. Was he shutting me out? Couldn't I get in? Or was that the way his mind was. Then one word resonated through his mind: Mai. Accompanied with sorrow. Then his mind trying to work out why he was sad. He'd had sorrow before, that wasn't confusing, but what was the other emotion? He couldn't work it out. _

_I retreated from the cold, harsh place that was his brain. I smiled evilly. I had my plan._


	14. 3 questionable sanity part 6

**Here is part 6 :) thankees to readers and reviewers, and we reviews a lot. Whenether we get a review we get realy excited. **

**enjoy!**

* * *

Questionable Sanity, Part 6

_I looked on with interest. Mai had been grumbling all the time for a while now. Everyone sat in one corner of the base, except for Lin, who was at the computers, and Naru, who was standing in the middle of the room thinking. _

"_We will need charms to protect everyone, and we will need to somehow make her not come at once, but in small numbers. Lin?" Lin nodded. The red haired woman, Ayako, started to make charms. Yasuhara and Takigawa were muttering to each other. While Masako and John were left to talk to each other as Mai was in her own private world. Nothing happened for a while, so I went back to contemplating their weaknesses. _

_Let's see… John, Masako, Naru, Yasuhara and Lin. They must have something. Naru's would be Mai, I would imagine, and Lin's Naru, as the tall man followed him everywhere. Masako's would also be Naru, I had seen the jealousy in her face every time Naru spoke to Mai. John…he was so kind, his weakness would be everyone, in a way. Yasuhara….._

_They were done. Ayako handed a protective charm to everyone. Takigawa and John stood in the middle of the room, while little white spirits appeared and circled the room. Everyone else stood close to the wall. This should be interesting. _

_I felt one of my bodies drawn towards the room. I let it go without fighting. _

"_One's here." Masako said. She was the only medium it seemed. _

_John started chanting. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God…" I felt part of me disappear. O well. It felt like my body was suddenly smaller, and that I had less power. More of me was going towards the room. I smiled. _

'_Time to have some fun!' I said in each of their heads, not out loud. I laughed as their heads whipped round. _

"_I thought you made charms!" Takigawa hissed at Ayako. _

"_I did! Idiot!" she hissed back. I laughed again. _

"_Well, clearly they're not working! I thought you were a Miko!" Does everyone in this group argue? _

"_There's too many spirits…" Masako said quietly. I removed some of myself. _

"_There's now 2." Naru nodded to John and Takigawa, who standing back to back, began to exorcise me. I laughed again. _

_And multiplied. _

* * *

Mai watched as John and Monk exorcised something that she couldn't see.

'_Time to have some fun!' _The voice said in my head again. _Oh no! I'm possessed again! _

Monk and Ayako started arguing again, over Ayako's powers, or lack of.

"There's too many spirits…" Masako said quietly. "There's now 2." Naru nodded at Monk and John. They started exorcising the spirits, which had materialised. They laughed, and then each one turned into a fog which split in half, and then materialised into 2 women. Now there were 4 identical women standing.

"What?"

"She _multiplies_? How does she do that?"

There were 8 women now. They all laughed.

"The exorcism's not working!"

* * *

_They're so clueless. It makes me laugh, watching their faces as I multiply. _

"_What?"_

"_She _multiplies_? How does she do that?" Now there are 8 of me. Enough for 1 each. _

"_The exorcism's not working!" Honestly, they only just worked that out? I see Naru, he doesn't look very confused, but he's like that. I pry into this mind._

'_What are you going to do?' I ask him. This is so fun, toying with them._

_That's none of your business. He tells me. I giggle._

'_Of course it is.' I see his jaw set itself in a straight line._

"_Naru, what's wrong?" asks the girl, Mai. Maybe I should talk to her, too. Hmmm….._

'_Stop watching him, or I'll have to call you a stalker.'_

_I'm not a stalker! She yelled in her head. I watched as a magnificent blush spread on her face. Her weakness is so obvious._

"_Mai? Why are you blushing?" Takigawa asked._

"_What?" she said quickly. "I am?"_

"_What were you thinking?" He teased, and I saw his eyes glance over to Naru. Yep, her weakness was obvious. Everyone knows it. (Except for Naru, maybe.) _

'_I want to see how you get out of this one.' _

"_I wasn't thinking anything!" She protested, waving her hands rather unconvincingly. _

'_Try harder.' I grinned. _

"_Yeah, yeah." He look unconvinced, but he left her. Time to tease him._

'_What about you?' I ask him. He froze._

_What do you mean…..He asks uncertainly. _

'_You know what I mean.' They're all so funny. I think I'll turn up the game soon….. 'I know your weakness.'_

_Weakness? My weakness? _

'_Do you want me to tell you? Oh no, that would be too boring. I can tell everyone's weakness.'_

_What, even Naru's? _Naru_ has a weakness? _

_I leave him. His mind is full of rubbish. It's amusing at first, but…I will leave him till later. Leave him confused, and thinking, and then listen to his thoughts. The red head woman, lets try her. _

'_What you doing?' an innocent enough question._

_Excuse me, but WHAT ARE YOU DOING in MY HEAD? GET OUT!_

'_Oooooo, touched a nerve, did I?'_

_SHUT UP!_

_What are you, fire lady? I snicker and leave her. She really needs to calm down. I wonder if that is even possible for her. What about the boy with the glasses? Yasuhara…._

_His mind is weird. _

"_Okay guys, keep calm." He instructs. _

'_D o you really think that's going to work?' _

_What? No, but it does help. Now, what is a pretty lady such as yourself doing in my head?_

_This could be fun. 'Nothing much…I think you'll be a fun toy. I'll play with you a little longer…'_

_Ooh, play? I'm in! _

_Indeed, his mind is weird. _

'_What game shall we play?' _

_What sort of game? We can't play a board game, can we?_

'_A word game then, duh.'_

_But which word game? Wait, you like games?_

'_Mind games are best.'_

_Hm. I agree. It seems we have a lot in common. _

'_Like?'_

_For starters, we are both amazingly beautiful…._

'_I agree. I am amazingly beautiful.'_

_Yes you are, and I am very proud that you are in my head, and you are something I have not made up. Maybe we should get married?_

'_How would that work? I'm dead.'_

_We shouldn't let that small obstacle get stuck in our way! I am perfectly sure that we would make a fine couple. _

'_I think I'm going to go.'_

_What? No, you can't leave me! We have to get engaged!_

'_I think I will go to Lin's mind.'_

_No! You can't cheat on me with Lin! Anyway, all he does is type it seems, and make sure Naru doesn't kill himself, but apparently he's quite skilled in something other than typing. _

_I smiled, but left Yasuhara. I did say his mind was weird. I didn't go to Lin's mind, he wouldn't get frightened or angry, or even react. He was no fun. My face fell. Hmmm….what to do next? It was a pity that I would have to eventually kill them. At least, one of them… Which one? I pondered. Wait, I hadn't spoken to the medium. _

'_Heellloooo' I purred_

_Er, hello? The little girl's eye's widened. _

"_Masako? Are you okay?" John was confused, I could tell by his face. But why did he only comment on Masako? Alright, Ayako hadn't really shown much on her face, but the others had. Wait a minute. Oh, that's good. That's brilliant. I laughed out loud, making everyone jump, minus Lin. Does he ever respond to anything? I should test that. _

'_Masako's got a boyfriend?' I giggled. 'Come on, you can tell me anything. I am after all dead.' Well, I knew John's weakness, though really that should probably include everyone else as well. _

_Masako's face darkened. 'No wait, the one you want' I let the words drip of my lips like honey. 'The one. You. Want. Is. Already. Taken. No?' _

_She blushed and sighed. No, she will not take him from me!_

'_But… Maybe…You don't really want him? Maybe the one you really want is standing right next to you, and you can't see him' I left her mind before she could protest and left her to struggle with the difficult concept of not liking Naru. Her mind was simple and boring. I glanced at John, but left him alone. _

_I looked around the room, Masako following me with her eyes. No-one else moved. I left them to think over what I had said, and John just to think. _

"_She's gone." I heard Masako say. _

* * *

"She's gone."

Mai breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn't like her habit of listening to your thoughts and commenting.

"She is so annoying! She just pops up in your head!"

"Yeah. She did that to me too." Monk sighed. "What did she say?"

Ayako raised her head rather haughtily. "I told her to get out of my head."

"Um, Naru?" Mai asked. He seemed to be thinking.

"What is it Mai?"

"What should we do?"

"First of all, we need to work out who she is, and why she isn't moving on."

"She would be one of the Yoshida family, wouldn't she? Yasuhara said that there were always problems after they moved away/died." Ayako pointed out.

"I would hazard a guess that she is this Aika, the one who survived the fire." Naru said.

"And disappeared." Yasuhara completed.

"We need to find out what happened to her when she disappeared."

There was another set of simultaneous sobs from the ghost.

"I know." Mai said quietly. They all looked at her.


	15. 3 questionable sanity part 7

**Part 7! This makes it easily the longest case.**

**And the best. It's getting tense. DUN DUN DUN! So, expect arguing (lots) and unvieled hinting. You can guess who thats directed at. And Yasuhara being his usual strange self :) We love him. Coz you can make him do pretty much anything as long as its either a) research related or b) rediculous. Anyway, I'll stop rambling. **

* * *

Questionable Sanity, Part 7

"I know." Mai said quietly. They all looked at her.

"WHAT?" Yasuhara stared at her. "I couldn't find that information!"

"It was my dreams. I couldn't tell you because I couldn't speak, and then what with everything, I forgot."

"The ones you drew out? They were of Aika?" Mai nodded in Monk's general direction.

"So, she was locked up being insane."

"But she wasn't insane to start with!" Mai cried, upset at the injustice of it all.

"There is a strong likely hood that she turned insane, especially considering the attitude to people who had insanity. From what Mai drew, I would imagine that she was locked up most of the time, and possibly even experimented on. The dream with the room with the tiles, did you find out what happened to her?" Mai looked tearfully at Naru. He felt guilty for making her cry, but this was important. She shook her head.

"It is probable she had to undergo an operation or experiment. That in itself would probably make her insane without the added confinement. Judging from the spirit's behaviour, it is also insane. She will not do what we would expect a ghost to do, so be careful. Don't go anywhere on your own." He turned to look at Mai as he said the last sentence. _Please Mai, don't do anything stupid this time. You're not as stupid as you make out. I know you're not really an idiot. _He prayed silently, to whatever God would listen. _Sometimes being an atheist is not very comforting._

Naru needed to think, but after not sleeping for 2 days (not since he fell asleep in the van) and not having had tea for a while didn't help.

"Mai, tea." He snapped. "Takigawa and Yasuhara, go with her." They smiled at each other. Mai looked nervously from one to the other. _Just the 2 people I really didn't want to have to go with._

After they had left the base Naru looked round at the others. They were waiting for something. Oh yeah, him to order them around. He sat down with his chin in his hands, classic Naru pose, and thought.

In the kitchen Mai was lucky enough to be left alone. Monk and Yasuhara had been winking at each other the entire journey, and Mai was a) worried about what they were planning b) nervous because it probably had something to do with her and c) nervous because it probably also had something to do with Naru.

"I don't think now is the best time for scheming." She said in a small voice.

"Mai-chan, any time is a good time for scheming!" Yasuhara's glasses glinted, making him look very evil. Mai was almost feeling sad that the ghost hadn't attacked them yet.

'_Oh? But this is fun!' _The ghost whispered in her ear, making her jump.

"Are you alright Mai-chan?" Monk asked.

"I'm fine. And when did you two start calling me Mai-chan?"

They both grinned.

"Since we decided it was time Naru realised his feelings." Yasuhara stepped forward as Mai stepped backwards.

"Uh…" Mai decided it was time to escape.

"Feelings? What feelings? Naru doesn't have any." Mai muttered to herself.

"Au contraire Mai-chan. He has many feelings, several centred around you, wouldn't you agree Bou-san?"

"Oh yes. It's only a matter of time before-"

"Bou-san! Do not give anything away! Anyway, with our help it will happen a lot sooner!" Yasuhara was practically dancing, all the while winking madly at both Mai and Monk. Mai was very happy when she got to base, thinking that Yasuhara would come to his senses, but Ayako and Monk cracking up just encouraged him.

"Don't laugh! He'll just keep on going for longer!" Mai said angrily.

"Mai-chan, do you not like my dance?" Masako giggled behind her kimono sleeve and John was grinning. Lin almost smiled. Almost. The only people not smiling were Yasuhara and Naru, who was looking on with vague annoyance. _Who was he to call her Mai-chan?_ A different part of his brain argued back: _Who were you to drop honorifics almost straight away? _The first part of Naru's mind shut up.

Yasuhara grinned when he saw the look on Naru's face.

"No, I do not like your dance." Mai sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

"But, Mai-chan, I made it specially for you! To celebrate!"

"To celebrate what?" Mai's eyes had narrowed.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out!" Yasuhara tapped his nose, while still dancing and winking. Unfortunately he wasn't that good at multi-tasking. So he promptly tripped over his own feet, causing everyone in the room to laugh, except Lin (who smiled) and Naru, who sighed.

"Oww…" Yasuhara was sprawled on the floor.

"Stop fooling around." Naru's face showed he wasn't amused. The others quickly got back to work, and Yasuhara picked himself up and dusted himself off.

"Mai, my tea." Mai had forgotten she was still holding the tea cup, being too entranced by Yasuhara's antics. She hurriedly gave him the tea. Naru drank it, despite it being lukewarm.

"Mai, next time I expect my tea to be hot." He held out the empty tea cup. "Mai, tea. Ayako, Takigawa, go with her. This time, don't get distracted."

_When did he drink tea that quickly?_ Thought Mai as she grabbed the tea cup and marched off to the kitchen with Ayako. When they got to the kitchen she sighed.

"How come he drinks so much tea?"

"He just loves your tea." Ayako said reasonably.

"I think he loves something other then her tea." Monk butted in, earning a glare from both females.

"But I swear he just views me as Tea-Maker, not his assistant!"

"You should feel honoured. Masako would kill for a chance to make his tea." Seeing Mai's look she added, "Not literally, of course. Have you noticed that he only drinks your tea?"

"That's because he pays me to make tea."

"Well-" He shut up as Ayako wacked his head.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It's a good job, right?"

"I suppose….." She took hold of the handle of the tea cup and walked back, careful so that it didn't spill, Ayako and Monk muttering behind her.

She sighed. _When am I going to get to go to the kitchen without someone bringing Naru into the conversation? Next time I'm requesting John._

However she made it back to base without any other upsets. Monk was not quite so lucky.

"I'M NOT OLD!" Ayako screeched while Monk ran for cover, hiding behind John as Ayako stalked into the room. Mai delivered Naru the tea, then sat down on one side of Masako. She did want to be friends with her after all, it was just Naru coming between them. As if reading her thoughts Naru looked at her and smirked.

"We need to draw her close, so all her bodies are in the same place, then Takigawa can put a barrier round her so she cannot split. Hara-san and Mai can try speaking to cleanse her, but I doubt this will work. If it doesn't, we'll have to follow normal procedure."

Everyone nodded.

"But, how are we going to get her all in the same place?" Mai asked.

"Hara-san, was there any point when all her bodies were together?"

"Yes, when you and Mai were arguing." Monk and John winced. Lin frowned. Mai blushed. Ayako gasped. Naru looked at Mai, no emotion on his face.

"So, they have to practically kill each other, and she'll come?" Ayako asked in a quiet voice.

"Wasn't there _any _other time?" Mai sounded uncomfortable. Masako shook her head.

"But I can't just shout at him for no reason!" Mai cried. She looked round wildly.

"Looks like you don't have much of a choice." Monk pointed out. Naru was still quiet.

"But-"

"Mai, just think of everything he's ever done to annoy you." Mai sighed. _Well, the list is endless. I mean, the orders for tea and never a please or thank you. He has NO manners. And the way he's the biggest narcissist. Though he is very good looking. SHUT UP! Bad things, remember Mai? Well, he always insults me, and acts like I'm completely stupid, which I'm not! And he lets Masako take him to dinner, but that's because she's got something on him, so it's not entirely his fault, right? And he doesn't take cases which don't interest him, even if it would really help someone if he did, and he never gives me any respect, and he orders me to everything, even sleep, I mean, how am I supposed to sleep on demand? And he never tells me anything, even though I'm his assistant! He doesn't ever seem to consider my feelings at all! He assumes that because he owns his own company he's some sort of master! I mean, it is impressive at the age of 17, but he still can't spurn other people's feelings!_

Naru was watching Mai think up a list of things that he'd done to annoy her. It seemed to be quite long, much to his worry. He'd hoped he wasn't that bad, _but some things you can't change _he thought. He wasn't going to put on a fake personality for anyone, ever. Plus, it was fun to annoy her. She (finally) opened her mouth. Naru braced himself for whatever was coming.

"Well, when I give you tea, you could say thank you."

"Do I need to? It's your job."

"So? It wouldn't hurt to say thank you and please, would it? You never ask me to do anything, it's always Mai, this or Mai, that."

"Mai, your job is to do what I say. I don't have to ask you."

"You don't treat me like I'm your assistant! And you assume that I can't look after myself!" He raised an eyebrow. "You always send someone with me, wherever I go, even if it's just to go get tea, which you ordered me to get!"

"Mai, you're a danger magnet. Anything could happen to you."

"I've been doing a pretty good job of looking after myself for the past few years without any help from you!"

"You don't run into murderous ghosts at home. And you still hurt yourself at the office." Mai quickly decided to chnage subject.

"You don't care about anyone's feelings! Just because you view yourself better then everyone else doesn't mean you actually are, and you can just throw people away!"

"I don't throw people away. In case you haven't noticed, I have done a good enough job of keeping you alive."

"Why can't you treat me as an assistant, not tea maker, or information collector, or filer? You never tell me anything; sometimes you just go without saying where you are going!"

"Do I need to?"

"Yes! Why can't you treat me with a little respect?" Mai barely heard Masako say something like 'she's here' but she didn't pay attention. "You seem to assume I'm stupid, you're always insulting me!"

"Then use your brain, and don't get so worked up."

* * *

_Another argument? I drifted over to the base. It was between Naru and Mai. I wonder if these two will ever work anything out. It's quite funny, watching them. Maybe I should take a peek at their thoughts? I can feel parts of me drift to watch, as well. May as well get all views of this argument. _

_Mai seems pretty frustrated at him for doing things that annoy her. Ah, she likes him really. Naru doesn't find anything wrong with the way he acts. I think I shall simply lock them in the house, and play with them, until they all die. They better die slowly, like good quality toys. It would be a pity if they all died too soon. I think I should make this game more intense. Which one should I kill first…?_

_Maybe I should endanger her life, and when he comes to save her he could die….That would sadden at least 3 people. Maybe one will commit suicide? _

_I think I will start off slowly, creating opportunities to listen to their thoughts, talk to them, madden them, and then….._

_I will drive them insane. _


	16. 3 questionable sanity part 8

**The last bit of the case :( well, we can't drag it out forever. Though it was fun writing it. Enjoy! New case will be up soon. Almost finished writing the first chapter :) from Mai's POV. for some reason. not sure why. **

* * *

Questionable Sanity, Part 8

"Naru!" Masako shouted suddenly. He looked up, glaring, from his fight with Mai. "She's here!"

"Takigawa." Naru swiftly ordered. The monk nodded, and started to create a barrier.

"Quickly!" Masako nearly yelled, if the ghost got away it would be bad. They could all hear Aika's screams of fury as she realised she was trapped.

"Let me go!" She screamed, thrashing around inside the barrier. There was no point in multiplying when it made no difference; Aika knew that her chances of getting out anytime soon were small. She had made herself visible to all of them, and Mai watched in horror as Aika hissed and ran her fingernails down the side of the barrier. _That was inside my head….talking to me? _She shuddered at the memory.

"Why?"She managed to ask, despite her instincts telling her to go hide, preferably behind Naru. Aika stopped her hissing and screaming and thrashing and clawing to look at her.

"Hello Mai." She grinned insanely, wickedly. "It was _delicious_ listening to your thoughts." She licked her lips, as if to prove her point.

"Why?" asked Mai again, slightly louder. "Why did you do all that?"

"To drive you to insanity, to make you go _mad._ It's so fun toying with people. Messing up their minds….I want to do that. To make people go through what I did!"

Mai couldn't tear her eyes of Aikas. She suddenly remembered her dream, and remembered what Aika had gone through; being locked up, and taken to the tiled room…it was horrible. It had been horrible. How people could do that each other, she would never know.

"I did like your daydreams, Mai. They were cute, to say in the least." She grinned again at Mai's blush. Monk would have sniggered, but the situation was serious.

"But you don't need to make people go through what you did! It isn't right!"

"Right? Since when was the world _right_? Since when was it _right_ that I was locked up? Since when was it _right_ that I was hidden away from people? Since when was it _right_ that I should be treated as insane?"

"That's no excuse! If you do what someone has done to you to a completely innocent person, then that makes you no better! It makes you worse! It makes the fact that the world isn't fair your fault! Just because it isn't doesn't mean you have to prove it and make it worse!" Mai's instinct told her that she had gone too far, but it was right in a sort of way. Just by saying the world isn't fair doesn't give you chance to make sure it isn't fair. Naru automatically stepped forward, slightly in front of Mai, as Aika went mad almost beyond control, and he was grateful that there was a barrier between Aika and Mai.

"What do you mean, it's _my _fault? I did nothing wrong, _nothing_, and they say I'm mad and lock me up! It's their fault! Not mine!"

"True, but that doesn't give an excuse to hurt people!"

"I never hurt anyone!" Aika screamed.

"However, you were successful in making Dai's friend commit suicide." Naru said; it was probably safer for Mai if she shut up for a while.

"I never hurt her; I just talked to her and gave her a nudge!"

Mai felt sick. Aika, had talked to her in her head to make her go mad and _kill herself_? All those taunts, in a hope that Mai, believing she was insane, and everyone else believing it too, would _commit suicide._ She remembered it teasing her, bugging her, strange looks from everyone, and that look from Naru she had got when she had told him she wasn't insane. She felt like throwing up.

"You're right. You didn't hurt her physically, but you hurt her inside. You made other people hurt her inside. And that hurts more." Mai whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You felt it, didn't you? You felt my pain. Surely you must take my side!"

"I can't, I can't! All those people. You know how they felt! How can you inflict that on anyone else? Knowing that they have done nothing wrong. You felt so hurt when your uncle betrayed you-"

"Don't! Don't talk about him!" Aika screeched, she took a menacing step forward. Naru shifted position to cover Mai more. Ayako, Monk and John had their mouths open, not sure what to do, so they voted for doing nothing.

"He betrayed you! And inside you felt so hurt. So much pain. It still aches, doesn't it?" The ghost nodded. It appeared confused.

"Part of you knows that what you did was wrong. You can't be happy this way. You can't get your revenge. You already had that, but you're still hanging around. Why?"

The ghost hesitated.

"I-I wanted to s-show them. To not b-be alone!" Her voice broke.

"You are not alone. All the people who loved you, and you loved are inside your heart. You will never be alone. My parents died too, but they are always with me." Aika nodded.

"But why was I alone to feel this way?"

"You aren't. Lot's of people went through horrible experiences too. That doesn't make it right, but you are not alone. If you move on willingly, I'm sure one of them will be able to help you."

"Really?" Mai nodded, smiling. Some of the bodies became filled with a gentle golden light. They whispered thank you and disappeared. It was the first time not all of her had done something at the same time.

"I'm scared." The remaining bodies either had a look of menace and anger, or fear.

"There's nothing to be scared of. Your family is waiting for you, they have been for some time. They will help you. I will too. Think of all the good things that have happened to you during your life. Forget about the bad. Let yourself be filled with good thoughts. That's it!" Mai smiled in encouragement as more of Aika became golden and glowing, and then disappeared.

The remaining bodies lurched forwards. Mai squeaked. They didn't look friendly.

"You!" Aika hissed, reaching out. Mai cringed backwards, against the wall. She peeked out from underneath Naru's arm as the others began to exorcise the remaining spirit. John was splashing water everywhere, Ayako was repeating her chants, Lin's shiki decimating the group while Takigawa strained to keep the barrier in place while exorcising a couple of the bodies.

It was over. Takigawa flopped onto the floor, while Yasuhara cheered. John smiled happily, Masako looked thoughtful, Lin had no expression on his face and Ayako grinned widely.

"Good job."Naru said quietly, so only Mai could hear. She blushed, and was about to go into shock when Ayako gave her a hug.

"Well done Mai!" Mai was taken out of her arms by a cheerful Monk, who proceeded to try to squeeze the life out of her.

"Bou-san, I think you're killing her."Yasuhara rushed forward to save Mai, before she died and Naru killed them all out of grief or lack of tea. Or a mixture of the two. Mai was set gently on her feet coughing. John patted her back and smiled.

Naru looked on with a mixture of disdain and jealousy. _Wait, jealousy? Why would I be jealous? _Naru struggled with the conundrum for a few seconds, but soon gave up.

"If you have finished, we are leaving." He said striding out of the room. Mai scowled at him. _Killjoy_.

The case was closed. The owners returned looking grateful, and Mai was left to explain to them roughly what had happened. SPR packed up and left. The drive back was boring, Mai was stuck in between the window and Naru. She was pondering something.

"Naru, there's something I don't get." Mai put on a confused face.

"That's to be expected." She glared at him. But chose to ignore that statement.

"How come she went in bits?"

"Obviously different bits of her had different emotions. Because she had many bodies the different bodies shared out the different emotions. The ones to go first were the bodies with the kinder, more forgiving part of her nature, whereas the ones we had to exorcise contained the more hateful, vengeance seeking part of her nature." Mai rolled her eyes. _Obviously. _He returned to his book.

"Naru?" Mai asked nervously.

"What Mai?"

"Did she speak to you?"

"Yes." Silence for a few minutes.

"What did she say?"

"'What are you going to do?' And 'Of course it is'"

"Oh." She remained quiet for the rest of the journey. _I wonder what the ghost said to her. She seemed to be in her head a lot…_Naru thought, then continued reading, relishing the unusual silence.

Mai was deep in thought. So was Monk and Masako. Monk wondering what the ghost had thought his weakness was, and Masako wondering what the ghost had meant when she said Naru was not the one she wanted.

It seems the ghost did leave a mark, even if it was small.


	17. 4 gathering part 1

**New case :) Thanks to readers and reviewers :D **

* * *

Gathering, Part 1

Yasuhara was bored. He stretched and attempted to read, but he really was bored. He couldn't concentrate. After sitting there for 20 more minutes he eventually gave up. He looked at his mobile. _Someone call me! _But, after another 5 minutes, nothing had happened. He rose, grabbed his jacket and left his house, calling out that he'd be back soon. His mum called something back, and he nodded, made a mental note to buy some tofu, and trudged up the street.

After buying said tofu he still didn't have anything to do. Then he clicked his fingers and perked up. He made his way towards the SPR office. He paused slightly before he opened the door, making sure not to interrupt anything. _Though nothing happens. Though maybe…_

3 minutes later he came back to himself and pushed the door open.

"Welcome to Shibu-Oh, hi Yasu!" Mai waved happily from the couch where she was sitting with Ayako and Monk. _Do they come in every day? How come whenever I come they're there? _This set of a spark in some distant corner of his brain, which burned along the gunpowder trail of his thoughts until something exploded, or he came to a conclusion. He grinned evily, sending shivers down everyone's spins.

"Mai, tea." Came a voice from inside Naru's lair, otherwise known as office. Yasuhara smiled at a brief image of Naru as a vampire, luring people to his office with his good looks, only to drink their blood in there. Holding a black cloak around the victim of course. Count Narucula. He abandoned that train of thought. Dracula and Naru don't really mix as names. Narusferatu? That was better.

Mai sighed and went to the kitchen.

"How does she put up with him?" Ayako was whispering to Monk.

"You know how she does it as well as I do." Ayako sighed.

"Yes…but does he?" Monk hesitated.

"Well, I guess so, I mean, he's clever enough."

"Though clever people tend to be really bad at noticing when someone likes them." Ayako pointed out.

"Why don't we help them?" Yasuhara piped in.

The monk and the miko looked at each other, and grinned.

-5 minutes earlier- (Mai POV)

I looked up as someone entered. The usual greeting rolled of my tongue, but then I realised who it was. "Oh, hi Yasuhara."

"Mai, tea" Naru called. I sighed, but went to the kitchen anyway. I tapped my foot waiting for the water to boil. I didn't want to leave Bou-san, Ayako and Yasu alone for any longer then I could help.

I walked to Lin's office.

"Lin-san?" I asked, keeping a watchful eye on the terrible trio who were sitting innocently watching me.

"Yes Taniyama-san?" I opened the door and placed the cup on his desk. He nodded. I smiled and left. As soon as I stepped out of the door, conversation from the couches awkwardly stopped. There was something definitely going on.

"Naru?" I didn't wait for a reply but went in.

"It is common to wait for an answer before entering." His voice was scathing. I ignored him and made my way cheerfully to his desk.

"Your tea!" He sighed. He looked terrible, dark rings were under his eyes and he looked so tired.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" I ventured after a silence. He seemed to be waiting for something and didn't reply. Well, not verbally anyway, resorting to his eyes to deliver me some message. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to decipher it.

"Are you going to give me my tea or stand there all day?" I realised I was still holding the cup somewhere in the air between my tray and the desk. My traitorous cheeks reddened and I looked away from his eyes. I escaped back to the normal world, only to wish I hadn't as I spotted Ayako and Monk nudging each other and Yasuhara grinning. I yelped and darted back in Naru's office.

I shut the door behind me and leaned on it. Naru's eyebrows raised as I made my way over to the wall and listened in on their conversation.

"Do you think it will work?" Ayako sounded dubious.

"Of course. When have my plans not worked?" That was Yasuhara. I groaned.

"Mai?" Naru had stood up and was next to me.

"Sssh!" I hissed, returning my ear to the wall. I heard the door open.

"Is Naru in?" Masako asked. Well, at least it stopped the scheming.

"Yes, but he is busy." Monk quipped. Brilliant.

"Busy? How busy?" Masako asked. She doesn't give up that easily.

"Well, Mai hasn't come out…" I was going to kill Yasuhara.

"Mai, are you okay?" Naru was looking at my face. I wonder what my expression was. There was a bang on the other side of the wall. I jumped, straight onto Naru's foot.

"Damn." I lost balance, arms flailing. Naru watched in amusement as I righted myself. What did he ask again? Oh yeah…

"Umm. Yasuhara arrived." I stated as if this excused all my strange behaviour. An eyebrow was raised. "And Bou-san and Ayako are here too…" Naru was still silent. "They're plotting something." I finished darkly. I gulped.

"So, I was wondering…if…umm"

"What Mai?"

"I could use your office to hide" I said quickly. He looked at me, face unreadable.

"Make more tea. And bring your work." I grinned. I couldn't believe that he had actually agreed. I dashed out of the room. Sneaking to the kitchen I pulled out the tea pot. I wasn't planning to move out of my new hiding place for a while. Masako seemed to have left. I sneaked back towards the office.

"So, Mai, you took your time." I jumped, Monk and Ayako laughed from the sofa.

"Care to tell us what you were doing?" Yasuhara whispered into my ear again.

"Nothing!"

"Sure." I grabbed a handful of files from my desk and escaped to Naru's office.

-1 hour later-

I heard the main door open and close. 10 minutes later there was still silence outside.

"I think they've gone." Naru looked up. He was probably happy. Well, the closest to happy he could get. Soon after I had holed myself in here he had gone out to shout at them. They had laughed. He had come back with his eye twitching. Which was not a good sign.

I made my way out of the office. No one was there. I let out a sigh of relief. The front door opened and I jumped. Luckily it was just a potential client.

"Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. Do you have an appointment?"

"No." The man said shortly, staring at me. "Aren't you a bit young? Are you all that young?"

"No, I am the youngest."

"I need to talk to your employer." He paused, then seemed to remember something. "Please." I nodded, gesturing for him to take a seat.

"Naru?" I popped my head round the door. "Customer."

I went to make tea. By the time I returned Naru had sat down opposite the man. Lin had left on some errand from Madoka, so I grabbed a notebook and went to stand behind Naru.

"I asked to meet your employer, girl."

"I am her employer. Shibuya Kazuya." Naru said coldly. He didn't like it when people underestimated him because of his age. "What is the problem?"

The man looked uncertain. "My wife believes we are haunted. I told her it was nonsense, but she insisted. So, here I am." His sneer showed what he thought of his wife's opinion.

"We will decide whether you are or aren't. What has happened to lead to that conclusion?"

"I have been pushed down the stairs, and my bed room wrecked. Also the children said they have seen a ghost walking towards them. One of my sons went missing, and was found later when he started crying and banging against the cupboard he was in. It wasn't him hiding, before you ask, he was terrified and said he couldn't remember how he got there. Also the cupboard was locked and there is no way to lock it from the inside."

I looked at Naru.

"We will take the case. We will need a room for base, and two more for sleeping in. If you would leave contact details with my assistant," he gestured towards me. "We will arrive in two days time, around 11 am." With that he retreated back to his den.

After the man was gone I went to Naru's office.

"Who should I call?"

"Everyone."

"Including Yasuhara?"

"Yes." I sighed, but did as I was told, having to hang up on 3 people after they tried to engage me in a conversation I really didn't want to have.

The day after next dawned bright and beautiful. A good sign. I stretched, looking at the time. Damn. I put on the first bits of clothing I could find, and struggled with the toaster. Damn damn damn. I glanced at the clock again, and ran out of my apartment, eating my toast along the way. I sprinted to the office, wondering why everyone was giving me funny looks.

I made it through the door at 08:06, still sprinting. I'd forgotten how to brake.

"The son went mis-" There was a shocked silence. Naru had stopped midsentence and was staring at me. Everyone else turned round.

"Umm, Mai? What happened to you?"

"Nothing." 7 pairs of eyes looked incredulous.

"Check the mirror." Ayako steered me to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror, and stopped.

"nnhn"

"Mai? Are you okay?"

"nnhn" Ayako was staring at me like I'd gone insane. To be fair, so was I. My hair was sticking out sideways, literally, like I was in a wind tunnel. If that wasn't enough my outfit was….there weren't really many words to describe it. I had put on a purple and red top, with an orange mini, one sock was pulled up past my knee and was rainbow coloured, while the other had fallen down and had skull and crossbones on it. My shoes were green pumps. I saw Naru behind me in the mirror. He sighed.

"Mai, go home and sort out your appearance. I won't have you scaring clients." I nodded meekly, and quickly ran out, and didn't stop running till I got home, where I quickly changed and brushed my hair. Since when did I get such bad bed hair? I ran back to the office once I was done, terrified of Naru's reaction when I got back. I had wasted precious working time by coming to work dressed as a rainbow. I cringed as I caught sight of the SPR van, with an annoyed Naru next to it. He glared at me, checking that I looked sane, and then climbed in, and I climbed in after him.

I spent most of the journey wondering how on earth I had rainbow socks.

The house was much more modern then most of the houses on our cases. As we pulled up the owner of the house walked out. He still looked angry; maybe it was his permanent expression. If I was honest, I didn't like him much.

"So you're finally here." He spat, as if we were actually late, which we weren't.

"I would appreciate it if you showed us to our rooms." Naru held his cool; god knows how he does it. But he's probably used to attitude like that. I remember the teacher in one school, he had been really horrible, and it turned out someone had put a death curse on him. I can't say I blame them. Naru had kept his cool then, too.

"My wife can show you." He said, indicating a timid looking woman who had come out of the house. The man disappeared. She had a black eye. She nodded. Ayako walked up to her.

"How did you get a black eye?" she asked, and I remembered that she was a doctor's daughter.

"I fell down the stairs." The woman said meekly under Ayako's eyes. I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye, and realised that Naru's eyebrow had twitched.

"I would get some ice on it. It should heal within a week." The wife nodded weakly as she led us down some corridors. I walked up so I was next to her. I smiled at her, she looked a bit scared.

"So, when did you move here?" I asked, trying to be friendly. She started to bite her lip without noticing. Her hands twirled around each other.

"8 years ago. This is the room for your base. This is the girls room and this is the boys." And with that she left, biting and twisting all the way. I stared after her. Something felt very wrong.


	18. 4 Gathering part 2

**Part 2! Yeah! *punches air* thanks to reviewers, (Ariana Taniyama), readers and people who add this story to story alert (although it would be nice if you reviewed too)**

**Thanks to Ariana Taniyama who pointed the mistake in our last chapter (it was originally with no spaces but it didn't like that) I've sorted it out so now there is no mistake! ^_^**

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Gathering, Part 2

One of the children watched the procession as everyone (minus Masako and Ayako who were going through the house) carried equipment into the base.

"Hello!" Mai bent down and smiled at the child. She looked at her with fearful eyes, before running off. _What? That's the first time a child ran away from me_. She scratched her head.

"It's strange isn't it? As soon as we try to talk to anyone other then the father they all shut up and go away A.S.A.P." Monk stopped next to her.

"Something's not right here." Mai said.

Due to the fact there were 5 people carrying the equipment it took barely any time to unload the van. Ayako and Masako were sitting in base when they got there carrying the last bits and pieces.

"John, Takigawa set up the cameras. Mai, I will need to interview everyone as quickly as possible." She nodded, and went off to gather everyone.

"When did abnormal occurrences start?" Naru questioned the father, Mai standing behind him taking notes.

"About a year and a half ago."

"And what happened at first?"

The wife looked up from the table. "At first my husband was pushed around a bit. About half a year ago he was pushed down the stairs, and also one of the heavy bookcases in the living room fell on him."

"Has anything happened to you?"

"No, the ghost hasn't done anything, or appeared to me." Mai smiled at her reassuringly.

"When did you see the ghost?" The children were next.

"7 months ago."

"What did it look like?" The child was silent and refused to speak. They moved on, but when asked the same question each child refused to answer. The last one, the youngest, started crying.

"It's okay." Mai tried to comfort him, but as she reached a hand out the child whimpered and shrank away. Mai brought her hand back, surprised. Naru was deep in thought. Mai stood up and moved closer to the child, ignoring the scared looks he gave her. She hugged him.

"Shhh. It's fine, nobody's going to hurt you." The child only cried harder. She hugged him harder in a bid to comfort him even more. What he did completely surprised Mai. He winced, like he was in pain. Mai's eyes widened and she withdrew her arms.

"Does it hurt?" She asked cautiously. The little boy said nothing. She gently lifted his shirt. And gasped. Naru looked up.

"Naru…" her eyes were wide and she whispered. He was at her side in an instant. They both looked at the little boy's back. It was covered in bruises, and there was the occasional red line. Naru looked grim.

"Mai, get Ayako." He said, clearly not happy. She rushed out, and the red headed woman flew in. After surveying the back, she stormed out again. Mai bent down in front of the child.

"We're going to help your back, is that okay? It won't hurt anymore." The boy nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Daichi."

"Daichi, what did the ghost look like? It's very important."

"He looked like… like Ouji." The boy said quietly. "Don't say I told you, please? Please!" His voice broke, he practically threw himself at Mai's feet pleading.

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone. It will be our little secret, okay?" Mai smiled at him and patted his…wait, not there it was bruised, she tried again, and patted his…. No, that was a bad idea too, his shoulder was bruised as well. Finally she settled for his head.

Ayako was back with some gel. She expertly rubbed it on his back gently. After she was done Daichi ran out of the room.

"Naru?" Mai asked, tearful.

"Yes?"

"The father did that, didn't he?"

Naru sighed. "Yes. It seems that he abuses all of his family, not just the wife."

Mai clicked. "She didn't get that black eye from falling down the stairs, did she?"

"No."

"You knew straight away? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know for certain. But I had an idea, yes. The way he said "my wife will show you around" and in the office "My wife believes we are haunted". Most people call their wife by their first name, and they tend not to order them around. Also black eyes are rarely from stairs, and more normally from fists. The way the wife is nervous when she talks about her home life, and hesitates before speaking always. Her little nervous ticks of biting her lip and wringing her hands. The children refuse to speak and are scared of anyone near adulthood. Even you. Yes, I had an idea." Mai's mouth hung open.

"Mai, you're attracting flies." She shut her mouth. "I didn't say because he was always around, and if he thought one of the family told us they would all get a beating. Just because he was out of sight doesn't mean he wasn't within hearing distance." He looked down at her, she was crying slightly.

"Mai, there is nothing we can do."

"But- but there must be someone we can tell!"

"No Mai, she has to decide for herself. We can help her, but not force her." He felt slightly guilty for making her cry, even though it wasn't really him causing the tears this time.

"How do you know he's not listening now?"

"He went to town on business just now."

Suddenly Monk walked in, but when he saw Mai he stopped grinning and immediately hugged her.

"What's wrong, Mai-chan?" He looked at Naru. "What did Naru say? You can tell big brother Bou-san." His voice at the end had become babyish. Mai didn't stop crying, and Monk glared at Naru, assuming he was the reason for the tears. They had been alone before he came in, but to Monk's surprise Naru looked slightly apologetic.

"The father abuses his family, even the children." Naru said calmly, because it seemed Mai was too sad to say.

"What? It's okay Mai-chan; big brother will protect you from the nasty man." Meanwhile Ayako, Masako, Lin and John had entered the base, and all had varying degrees of surprise at the sight of the indifferent Naru, crying Mai and the hugging Monk. Ayako immediately started fussing over Mai, and Monk stopped hugging her, and looked at Naru, serious.

"Should we really carry on with the case then?"

"Yes. I'm no more happy about it then you, but I have agreed to take this case and I will not change my mind."

Ayako, Masako and John looked confused.

"Why shouldn't we carry on with the case?" asked Ayako.

"The father is of the abusive sort." Naru turned to the monitors.

"I won't help a man who abuses his family." Ayako said haughtily.

"What about his family?" Naru said simply. Mai was shocked. She'd assumed that the only reason Naru hadn't backed down was his pride. "You want to help his family, don't you?"

Ayako nodded.

"If we get rid of the ghost, we help his family as well."

"I don't think it's a great idea, but I'll do it." John muttered, and Masako nodded.

-0o0o0-

Mai tossed and turned in her bed, she couldn't get to sleep. She kept remembering Daichi's back, the wife's black eye, the father. Maybe she should go to base? She remembered last time she had gone to base when she couldn't sleep. Naru had seemed a bit annoyed, and her bed was bound to be much more comfy then the sofa. And it would be a bit pointless if it was Lin in base instead of Naru. It wasn't that she disliked Lin; it was just that she would rather have Naru there. She started thinking about Naru, and found that it was easier to get to sleep thinking of him. She felt safer if he was there. Then, BAM, she was asleep.

_Mai looked around the blackness. If it was a dream, then that meant she would see Naru…_

_Naru was next to her. _

"_Naru, why is the father so horrible?" She asked. He shrugged._

"_Some people are like that. They gain satisfaction by hurting others. I agree with you. It's a horrible thing to do."_

_Mai nodded. She pitied his family. _

"_Mai, be careful around him. He has a short fuse, especially when it comes to females." Mai nodded, and Naru smiled. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, a scene playing out. She turned to watch it._

_It was one of the rooms in the house. There was the father, and a boy who Mai didn't recognise. They were arguing. _

"_Don't use that tone of voice with me!" The father shouted. "I am your father, Ouji, don't forget your place!"_

_Ouji…the name rang a bell in Mai's mind. Of course! Daichi had said that the ghost looked like Ouji! _

"_Well, you don't act like a father should!" Ouji shouted back._

"_Don't you dare say I am not a good father!" _

"_A good father wouldn't hurt his family!" Ouji had a point._

"_Why you…" The father suddenly hit Ouji, hard. Mai could see the tears well up in his eyes. He continued to beat Ouji, punching him, kicking him and hitting him. Splatters of blood appeared on the floor. Mai could see that Ouji was trying not to cry. Mai's own tears overflowed from her eyes. Why did he beat his family? _

"Mai, wake up!"

Mai didn't need to be reminded twice. She didn't want to go back to that dream. She shot up, and hit Ayako, gaining her a disapproving scowl.

"I know I said get up, but you didn't have to do it so fast."

"Opps….Sorry!" Mai laughed nervously, her dream still fresh in her mind.

"Come on, or there'll be no breakfast left!"

Breakfast was quiet. Mai didn't enjoy eating in the same room as the father, and from the atmosphere, no-one else did. She felt relived as soon as she was back in base with the rest of SPR.

"Naru, I had a dream." He looked up from the file. "There was Arihiro in a room, I think it was in this house, with a boy, called Ouji, and Ouji said he wasn't a good father because he beat them and then Arihiro started beating him…" Mai looked distraught, her hand almost covering her mouth. "…..and he beat him so hard he bled…."

Mai immediately got a hug from Ayako. Mai got very upset about people getting hurt, and she had to dream about it on almost all their cases.

There was a knock on the door. Everyone turned towards it, Mai half expecting Arihiro to come in and start yelling at them. A serious Yasuhara popped his face around the door, and looked relived when he saw that SPR was in the room. He slid through the gap, closed the door, and almost tiptoed to Naru to give him a slightly yellow piece of paper before sinking into the sofa. Naru looked at the piece of paper, and then turned to Yasuhara.

"Is this it?" Yasuhara nodded.

"This house has been owned by the Ozaki family for a few hundred years, and there have been no murders or anything of the sort, except that, which I fished from a local newspaper."

Mai, sadness forgotten, walked over to Naru to see what was on the paper. He glanced at her, then shifted his arm a bit so she could see better.

It was an article, and the small, modest headline caught Mai. 'Manor Suicide'.

The article was short and simply reported that Ozaki Arihiro's son, Ozaki Ouji, had committed suicide in his room, for reasons unknown.

"I think we can safely say why he did it." Naru murmured. He looked at the date. Ouji had died about a year and a half ago.

"We now know that the ghost is Ouji, and he will probably go if we do a cleansing. We should do it later, and we will, hopefully, be out of this house by evening." Naru was slightly disappointed; this was an open-and-shut case. Although he despised Arihiro, he wanted some more complexity in the case.


	19. 4 Gathering part 3

**Ah, you didn't think the case would be finished that easily did you? tut tut. Anyway, this is where the T rating comes into affect i guess. *ahem* *unrolls scroll* **

**"WARNING: violence-moderate, some language-little other-none" right. now that that's over with, back to the story :D**

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Gathering, Part 3

Mai was taking boxes back to van, feeling happy. The cleansing had been successful, Ouji had gone without too much trouble, although he had been angry at his father, Naru wasn't in a bad mood, and they were leaving the dreadful Arihiro behind, and would hopefully never see him again, although Mai pitied his family, especially little Daichi. She hoped that Erena, Arihiro's suffering wife, would one day gain enough courage to report her husband and live a happy life away from him with her children.

She walked back down the hallways, and was in sight of Naru and the van when the house seemed to shake.

Naru was annoyed. He'd had to go and tell Arihiro that they had cleansed the ghost, and Arihiro was permanently angry it seemed. He wanted to be in the van, with Mai on one side of him and Lin on the other, driving away from Arihiro, with the rest of the team following them. He also wanted Arihiro to be taken away to prison or an asylum, but you can't have everything. He'd been waiting by the van, all ready to go, and had been waiting for Mai. Mai had been near the doorway, and in his line of sight, when she suddenly stopped, like she had discovered there was a ghost breathing down her neck and needed to turn around, oh slow slowly, to check it was there (Naru had never really understood why people did that in films).

Suddenly she screamed, setting Naru into motion.

"Mai!" She had fainted. Naru caught her (Naru is speedy), and then wondered briefly what he should do with her. Ignoring what was going on in the rest of the house he managed to carry her back to the van, and placed her down in her seat. Everyone else had gotten out of the car or van, and Ayako checked that Mai was okay. Naru sighed.

Mai came round.

"He's here! The ghost's still here!" She shrieked.

"But we cleansed it!" Monk protested.

"There must be another one." Naru said calmly, moving to unpack the van. Mai sighed. More work. The ghost could have made himself known _before _they had packed up. They set up base as quickly as they could, and all tried to avoid Arihiro, as his temper would no doubt be worse after Naru had told him the bad news (everyone else had volunteered out of the job, so it was left to him). It was dark by the time they were finished.

Ayako was walking down the hallways when, bad luck, she bumped into Arihiro. She glared at him, for she had no respect for him, and she was armed with her trusty handbag. He glared back.

"You're a bad team, aren't you? You said that the ghost was gone, and it isn't. You're money wasters."

"There are two ghosts we got rid of one, but not the other."

"Don't talk back! It's called respect, woman!"

"And it's rude to not answer a question. Wait a minute, isn't "You're a bad team, aren't you?" a question. Oh yeah, I think it is."

Ayako gave in to her desire to hit him, and with her trusty handbag, gave him a massive WHACK on the head. She out-glared him, and said with the more venom then a snake, "I have no respect for you." She stalked off, back to base. The shock of a woman back talking and then hitting him was too much, and he didn't respond.

Arihiro had enough sense not to follow her. He had learnt, the hard way, not to mess with Ayako, especially when she is carrying a handbag.

He stalked off in the other direction, his anger growing.

He soon came across another girl. She was small, and not carrying a handbag. Good. He could finally take out his anger on someone.

"Why didn't you get rid of the ghosts the first time, you almost left without doing your job! That's what happens when you have too many females in a group! And your cocky boss is too inexperienced!"

Mai could feel her anger rise. Females, what?

"There's nothing wrong with females, you sexist jerk! And my boss is very good! The second ghost only came today!"

"Females are too damn stupid! They're all driven by the same things! Just because your boss is good looking, doesn't make him good! Nowadays I don't get the respect I deserve!"

"Respect? You don't deserve any respect, you belong in the gutter!"

"You need to learn your place, girl!" He grabbed her throat, and pushed her against the wall. Mai could feel cold fear in her stomach, but what she said was true.

"Learn. Your. Place. Girl!" He spat out 'Girl', and with each word he hit her, hard. She remembered Ouji, and Dream Naru's warning. Of course, she had brushed past that, and was regretting the fact she was weaker then him. He let go of her neck for a moment, and she sank to the floor, gasping. He suddenly kicked her stomach, like you would kick a football. She curled up to protect her stomach and face. He kicked her back, legs and arms, all the while yelling at her that she had to learn her place, respect her elders and not to talk back. She nearly died with relief when she heard an icy voice above her.

"I would appreciate it if you chose not to abuse my staff. Isn't abusing your family enough?"

Arihiro ceased kicking, and Mai heard him shout, "Why you…!" at Naru.

"I could easily hurt you. Remember that." This Naru was scary.

Arihiro didn't move. Naru snapped his fingers and one of the heavy bookcases rose and slammed into the wall. Naru's eyes never left the other man's face.

"If you ever hurt any of my employees again, or anyone in this house during our stay, it won't be the bookcase that hits the wall next time. Am I clear?"

Mai didn't move, although she would dearly love to see Naru, and Arihiro's face as he got defeated by Naru and his PK. She knew that if she did, the pain would escalate into unbearable. She heard footsteps, and realised that Arihiro had fled.

"Mai? Mai!" He tapped her gently, but she didn't respond. If she was hurt badly he wouldn't just hurt Arihiro, he'd be in jail for killing him. His heart sank as she remained still. The chance of her being dead wasn't that high, was it? No, because she curled up so tightly, if she was dead or unconscious then she would be all limp.

Mai tried to open her mouth, but only got a mouth full of her knee.

"Mai, can you move?" She debated this. It would hurt, but she knew that Naru needed to know she was okay. "Mai, it's okay now. Arihiro's gone, and I know you're conscious." She moved her knee down, just a little bit, and pain rushed through her arms, back and shins. She blanched. Naru saw the movement, and felt relief rush through him, but it didn't drown out the anger. Mai slowly stretched her legs out, wincing, and looked at Naru's face, which was rather close. She gasped in pain, and silent tears rushed down her cheeks. Naru moved her so she was sitting. He stared into her eyes, and Mai would have blushed if she wasn't crying. She felt like she'd been used as a substitute for a football.

"Mai, where does it hurt?"

"Arms…back….legs…"she mumbled. He sighed. He'd hoped that she could walk, but she probably couldn't without extreme pain, and he didn't like Mai in pain.

He gently picked her up, and started carrying her to base. On the way he met Monk, who was shocked, but kept silent. Mai was dimly aware that Naru smelt nice, and that she was taken into base and laid down on the sofa, which seemed incredibly comfy compared to the floor. There was the sound of a general moving towards, and then away from her, and a furious miko swam into view. Her fingers and eyes roamed Mai's body.

"It's –wince- not as –wince- bad as it looks." Mai said without conviction as Ayako prodded her. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Mai, judging from the damage, it is worse then it looks." Ayako pointed out.

"OW!" Naru's other eyebrow joined the first.

"Okay, okay, it is as bad as it looks." Mai mumbled.

"Hold still." Ayako rubbed some gel onto her back, arms and legs, and then bandaged any cuts.

"I can't do anything about your lip." She said apologetically.

"It's okay." Mai smiled at her. "Thank you."

Monk jumped into the room.

"Is she done?" All the other males and Masako came in after him. "Mai! You're okay! I want to beat that bastard up." He patted her head.

"How do you feel?" John asked. Masako darted forward and carefully hugged her.

"Wow, you look like the Mummy returned!" Yasuhara commented not quite so cheerfully as usual. He looked slightly pale, and Mai guessed because he was scared of Arihiro. Though actually he was worried about her, but he wouldn't show it. _Someone has to remain cheerful, and I guess it has to be me _was his thought process.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Thanks Yasu."

"Try not to move too much, okay? And try to get some sleep." Ayako instructed. Mai nodded, and suddenly felt very tired. She yawned, and someone put a blanket on top of her. She soon slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Monk slipped over to Yasuhara.

"What do we do about the plan?" He muttered, careful so Naru didn't hear. Yasuhara grinned wickedly.

"The plan can still be carried out. It will just be…delayed."

"Naru, should we still carry on with the case? We don't know what he could do."

"I doubt he will touch us after I proved something to him." Lin looked at Naru. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything extreme. I showed him that I can hurt him more then he can ever harm us. And probably scared him."

"What did you do?"

"I slammed a bookshelf into a wall. Nothing to be worried about." Lin went back to his work.


	20. 4 Gathering part 4

**The next part :) Which is strangely long. Cass says it was fun to write though. We will probably be updating sporradically during the next week coz we are moving :D YAY**

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Gathering, Part 4

Mai woke up on the sofa, in an uncomfortable position, but the blanket on her was warm, so she decided that she wouldn't move until she worked out how to move without moving the blanket. She cracked open an eye with some difficulty. She was still in base (that was good to know) and she could hear Lin's typing. She wondered what Lin typed about all the time. Maybe he as writing a book or something…

She established that moving a bit wouldn't knock the blanket off her, so she tried. She was sore all over and moving was a bit painful. Looks like she was stuck in that position. She opened her other eye to see who was in base.

Ayako and Monk weren't, because they would probably be arguing, and then fussing over her when she awoke. Actually, there wasn't anyone in her line of vision, so she wasn't sure who is in the base (except for Lin). Maybe she should just go back to sleep….

BAM! The door flew open, destroying any chance of sleep, and Ayako stormed in. From her expression Mai guessed that she had just had an argument with Monk. When Ayako saw Mai peeking at her from the blanket her expression softened, and she immediately went to her, and asked her how she was feeling. Pretty crappy was the answer. Mai struggled to sit up, and Ayako helped her so she felt minimal pain. Mai looked around base. Naru was in his chair, rubbing his forehead so she guessed that he had just woken up too, and Lin was typing.

"Where…..what's going on?" Mai sleepily asked.

"We're trying to find out who the other spirit is, and what its motives are."

"Oh…."

"Arihiro left for business a few hours ago. If we're lucky he'll come back tomorrow."

"What about everyone else….what about Daichi?"

"They stayed here. As if we'd let them go with Arihiro somewhere where Naru can't scare him."

Mai looked over to Naru, who was modestly watching the monitors. She remembered scary Naru, and hoped like hell that she would never annoy him so much he did that to her. A smug Yasuhara and a sheepish Monk entered. Yasuhara pushed his glasses up so the light glinted off them.

"Ah, Mai, you're awake. I have a plan."

Mai shivered. Of course Yasuhara had a plan, he always had a plan. Yasuhara without a plan was like Naru not wearing black willingly. It just didn't happen. She only feared his plans when they involved her, and they seemed to most of the time.

"No reason to look so scared Mai. It doesn't involve you."

Mai sighed with relief. So it wasn't the plan he had been discussing with Ayako and Monk in the office. That was good.

"Well, this one doesn't."

Damn, she thought too soon.

"It involves revenge."

She could easily guess who it did involve instead of her. Arihiro. She might actually like this plan for once.

Mai noticed that Monk was trying to ignore Ayako's gaze. So they did have another argument. Knowing them, it probably involved Ayako's age. Ayako actually wasn't old (23) and wasn't the oldest, but her age irked her to no end. And Monk enjoyed teasing her about it.

No-one was sure of whom the ghost was. Yasuhara's research showed nothing, and Naru was too busy to research. The only person they knew who died there was Ouji, and they had cleansed him. So what was this new ghost? Why didn't he move on? Masako felt nothing, claiming that the spirit was hiding its presence.

"So, what is the plan?"

"The plan?" Yasuhara proceeded to tell them. Mai smiled, as did Ayako, Monk, Lin and Masako. John scowled.

"It's alright John, I'm sure you won't have to take part." Masako patted his arm. Yasuhara nodded. Everyone was satisfied, though John would have preferred not to have to punish the man, though he deserved it. Forgive and forget, he had been taught. Though he was starting to doubt whether or not this man could be forgiven. No, he couldn't doubt. He crossed himself.

-The next day-

They were no closer to finding out who or what the ghost was. And it had become more violent. But there was no preference as to who received it, or when. People would be pushed around in front of everyone, or tugged towards windows during the night. There was no pattern. Luckily Arihiro wasn't around to get angry because they weren't doing the job well enough, though that was just his excuse.

Mai was better; though everyone tried to stop her she was already up and about.

"Here's your tea Naru!" She smiled brightly before putting the cup in front of him.

"Mai, Ayako told you to stay in base and _not _move around. Surely even you could get the message?" Her smile transformed into a scowl.

"But I feel fine! And Arihiro isn't here! And there's nothing to do here anyway." She said reproachfully, as though he should be providing her entertainment like some clown.

"Then find something to do, but make sure you have to do it sitting down." Naru sipped the tea calmly, watching her over the rim of the cup. She grumbled something, but went to sit down anyway.

After 5 minutes she sat thinking. Then she smiled happily. What was she up to? Naru looked at her warily. She shifted slightly, into a more comfortable position. She picked up a piece of paper and started to doodle, singing quietly. Naru went back to his work, satisfied that she had listened to him…

Naru groaned. Why did she have to sing? No, why did Yasuhara have to have walked in, and _joined in? _He couldn't concentrate as Yasuhara and Mai sang yet another soppy duet, while Yasuhara missed all the right notes. How was it even possible for someone to be so off key? Worse yet, Monk had walked in about an hour ago. When he knew the words, which was apparently now, he joined in too. You'd have thought that as he was in a band he would be able to sing. Well, think again. With Yasuhara and Monk together singing clashing notes Naru was getting a headache. Worse still Mai refused to get any tea, claiming that she had to rest. Enough was enough.

"Be quiet!" He said for the hundredth time. There was a pause, a glance, a unanimous nod, and they carried on.

Naru was tired of their singing, and stood up. They stopped singing to see what he would do. Mai remembered scary Naru, and was very glad Yasuhara and Monk were with her. Naru, however, didn't yell at Mai, and without looking at them simply walked out. The three grinned at each other. They had driven Naru temporarily mad without punishment. Lin didn't seem to mind the singing, so they carried on, in case Naru came back.

Naru went to the kitchen, and set some water to boil. He could make tea himself, but it was easier if he made Mai do it, and it had become part of her habit. Ayako and Masako walked by, talking about something uninteresting. When they saw Naru making tea, they stopped.

"Naru, why isn't Mai making tea?" Naru glanced at them.

"She's resting." He wanted them to go base and endure the singing. Mai was good at singing, but Yasuhara and Monk couldn't sing to save their lives. Surely Ayako and Masako couldn't put up with it. They left, probably talking about make up or something girly like that, or debating however he had managed to make Mai listen to him. She rarely did. Once he had drunk his tea and washed the cup, he walked slowly back to base. He stopped. Silence. He felt pleased, silence was his favourite kind of noise. He almost smiled at the newly restored tranquillity before walking into base.

Ayako and Masako had walked into base to see what Naru had gotten so annoyed about. Yasuhara, Monk and Mai stopped singing and grinned devious grins.

"Lin?" Mai asked innocently.

"Yes, Taniyama-san?"

She got up and whispered in his ear. He smiled slightly. "Wait a moment." He turned to his laptop and typed something. He pressed 'print' (for the purposes of this story, yes they do have a printer) and several sheets came out. Mai handed them out.

There was a timid knock on the door. Monk opened it.

"Yes?"

"Er, well, we were, er, we heard you singing and…well…we were wondering if we could join in?" The little woman asked timidly. "It's been so long…" she trailed off.

"Of course!" Monk smiled at her, and guided her and her children to the couches. Mai handed them a piece of paper.

"It's in English!" Monk took his piece of paper and looked at it horrified.

"I will teach you. The pronunciation is below." Lin proceeded to read through it with them all. There was silence when he was done, and footsteps were heard coming down the hall. They paused, then Naru opened the door.

"One, two, three, four!" Monk counted them in.

"I GOT CHILLS

THEY'RE MULITPLYIN'

AND I'M LOSING CONTRO-OL

CAUSE THE POWER YOU'RE SUPPLYING, IT'S ELECTRIFYIN!" Monk, John and Yasuhara sang out in broken English.

"YOU BETTER SHAPE UP

CAUSE I NEED A MAN

AND MY HEART IS SET ON YOU-OU (they all point at Naru)

YOU BETTER SHAPE UP

YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND

TO MY HEART I MUST BE TRUE!" All the girls and children sang no better.

"NOTHING LEFT FOR ME TO DO" (the guys again, then all together, standing and pointing at Naru)

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT!

YOU ARE THE ONE THAT I WANT HOO HOO HOO!"

Naru was in shock. He hated that song. He looked at Lin. Lin was smiling. He would have to pay for telling them that he hated that song. In his opinion it was pointless drivel that, for some unknown reason, had got everyone excited when he was younger.

"_Noll, why don't you want to watch it?"_

"_I have no interest in watching some soppy film."_

"_Aww, come on, it'll be fun! Everyone loves it!" _

"_Unfortunately."_

"_Noll, you're not getting away!"_

_So he had ended up half watching it. He had been in the room, but he had managed to get a book, and had been coping well in blocking out the singing (and terrible dancing) and then at the end, there was that song, and he had nearly smashed the TV. It was so bad, and everyone loved that song. It was on the radio for ages whenever you switched it to a music channel, and almost everyone had been singing it for ages. _

_He seemed to be the only one who hated it, and he hated it even more for that._

Naru glared even harder at Lin. Why had he told them? Damn it, it brought up memories, and he wanted to block them out. He didn't want to feel empty again.

He wouldn't, couldn't, put up with it. He slammed the door shut, and walked swiftly down the hallway, trying to get as far away as possible. They were singing so loudly, he could still hear them wherever he went in the house, so he went into the garden. He went to area which, he calculated, was furthest away from base and the singing.

He was in the place furthest away from the base, and he had found relief. Silence. Silence was good. No-one had followed him, thankfully, and he could wait here until they finally shut up. It would give him time to work out how to annoy Lin enough so he wouldn't do anything like that again.

A few bushes nearby rustled despite the lack of wind. Naru was sent into alert mode. He'd assumed that the ghost wasn't in the garden, but it was very likely that it could move around the house _and _garden. A tree moved, and Naru glared at it warily. Trees should only move like that if it was windy enough to rip tiles off roofs. But he was damned if he was going to go back, ghost or no ghost. He'd destroyed a demigod; he could easily destroy a ghost. He didn't really care if he almost died. At least, even if he did, he would have someone waiting for him. It might even be fun, in an odd sort of way. He could haunt Lin and Mai. Despite the fact that the tree looked like it was about to fall over, he smiled inside a bit.

The tree, as if on cue, toppled over. Naru looked up at it, as it fell, BAM, and he felt pain, but blackness enveloped him, and he gladly buried himself in it, not caring if he got lost or not.


	21. 4 Gathering part 5

**Part 5, yay! No ghost in this chapter, but I think that's understandable. A big thank you to reviwers! ^_^ We like you. And a thank you to readers too. Reviews make us happy. :)**

Gathering, Part 5

Mai was feeling pleased with herself. She had come up with singing to annoy Naru, and then everyone had joined in with singing Naru's least favourite song. She had won, and was beaming inwardly. That would teach him not to order her about. Lin had said that it would probably be best to leave him till he came back to base of his own accord. If you went after him he would probably snap. They had enjoyed singing immensely, and had carried on singing various songs for a while. They found singing 'The One That I Want' the most fun, because it was fun pronouncing English, and they had the lyrics.

Erena had left with the children to get drinks when their throats ran dry. Mai held the cup and drank the water until it was all gone, and then used it as a telescope and was playing pirates with Yasuhara, sitting on different sofas and shouting to each other piratey things such as 'Ahoy, matey!' and ' Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!' much to everyone's amusement. They had staged a sea chase, with them sailing their sofa ships away from the bad, bad government ships (they had to imagine them), and they had just followed a treasure map to a deserted island and was just about to search it for treasure. They all heard the crash. It echoed throughout the house, and they all looked at each other, puzzled, for a few moments, and then Erena left with the children to put them to bed in case it was Arihiro returning. SPR decided to check what it was. They ran to the front door, but Arihiro wasn't there.

"I think it came from outside," reasoned Monk, "I don't think anything inside the house could create such a loud noise." They stepped outside, breathing in cool air, and walked around the house.

It was by the back of the garden. One of the trees had fallen over.

"Do you think it's the ghost?"

"Probably. There's no wind, and it hasn't been cut. It would be impossible for a human to push over that big a tree."

Mai absentmindedly wondered where Naru was. She thought that he would have come at the crash, even if he was angry. She looked at the leaves of the tree. In some places, they looked darker, and Mai thought that it would make a nice picture. Everyone else turned to go.

"We should go tell Erena. She'll need to call someone about that."

"Don't you call the fire brigade?"

"I thought that they were for fires or if your cat got stuck in a tree."

"You can call them if you get stuck in a place, like inside your car or in a room that's not on the first floor."

"Why would you get stuck in your car?"

"Some people are talented."

Mai looked at the tree again. It was a pity about the tree, but ghosts didn't tend to think about not destroying or hurting things. Her thoughts, again, turned to Naru. Where was he? He must have heard the crash, and come to check what it was.

There was a bump in the branches, and Mai walked closer to the tree. It looked a bit odd. Maybe it was a rock, but why would there be a rock there? She was pretty sure that there hadn't been a rock there before, but she had only seen the garden once, so she couldn't be sure. She reached out to touch it…..

"Mai!" She turned and saw Monk waving his arms. "We're going in, so unless you want to stare at a tree….!"

"I'll come in a minute!" She shouted back. Monk nodded. "I just have to check something…" She muttered to herself. She moved a few small branches. Crouching down in the space she just cleared, she moved a few branches that were covering part of the bump.

Was that….a hand? Mai's breath caught and her mind stopped working properly.

She looked at it, confused. Maybe there had been a statue by the tree, and it got knocked over? No….

She looked at the wrist. There was no way it was a human hand, though it did look amazingly real… There was something she was missing here… She moved a few more branches with a bit of difficulty.

Black.

Black….missing Naru…..a hand…..bump in branches….

Her scream was as loud as the crash earlier.

Monk, Ayako, Lin, John, Yasuhara and even Masako (with some difficulty) came running. Mai felt worthless suddenly. Why hadn't she clicked earlier? What if Naru was dead? It was her fault…..

Mai sobbed loudly, blinking through her tears, trying to move more branches, but they got bigger and heavier, and she was so weakened by her sobs she didn't make any difference. Monk appeared by her side, panting, and saw what she saw. He paled, but immediately started work trying to move the branches. Lin came after Monk, and together they managed to move some branches, uncovering Naru's arm, head and shoulders.

Mai hated herself. It was her fault, and she couldn't even do anything, he looked so pale…. Was he dead? Surely you couldn't die from a tree? But on the news recently there had been 6 people who died when trees fell on them in the recent storm. No! Naru couldn't be dead!

Masako ran back to the house to phone an ambulance. Mai grabbed Naru's hand and tugged. His hand felt cold. John placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mai, don't tug. I think he's trapped underneath that big branch, and if you tug too hard you might dislocate his arm." Mai nodded, but didn't let go of his hand. Ayako checked for a pulse. Mai nearly died from tension.

"He's alive." Mai sobbed with relief. She heard the wails of an ambulance, and a fire engine. Within a few minutes they had cut him out, and the paramedics started work. One of them made Mai let go of his hand, and Mai had to be dragged back by Monk to stop her from kicking the man to death.

_Naru looked at the blackness around him. It was sort of comforting. It was thick, and when he reached his hand out he could almost touch it. He turned, and caught a glimpse of something. It was dark, but not the velvet back that surrounded him, it was the black that wasn't quite black, there was a flash of blue…._

_Without hesitation he ran after it. Maybe, maybe…._

_He looked around. He couldn't see him anywhere. He didn't know his way around, but he didn't care. He touched the folds of black. He drew them round himself, creating a cocoon. He wanted to chase him, but he didn't know where he went. Maybe it had just been his imagination. He was surrounded by black, and he smiled crookedly. This world was just black, and he didn't care. He didn't care that he was lost. He didn't care if he didn't return, if he was here. It wasn't so bad really._

Mai stared at nothing in particular.

"Food?" suggested Monk, holding out a bag of sweets.

Mai took one, still not moving her eyes. She ate it, not taking in the flavour.

"Mai."

"What?"

"It wasn't your fault."

"It was. I came up with the idea of singing!"

"It was good while it lasted, and it wasn't your fault that he happened to be standing under a tree."

"But it was the consequences of my actions!"

"And his too."

Mai kept silent. She still felt guilty about it. She looked at the still body on the bed.

"Mai, I think we should leave. I'm sure visiting hours are over."

"I'm staying."

"Mai, you can't…"

"Yes I can." She replied stubbornly. "I was planning to. I'm staying here."

"You can't. It's late, and you've eaten hardly anything."

"I'm not hungry. I'll sleep here."

"Mai, Naru is using the bed, but I'm sure you can cuddle up to him…" Mai blushed at the thought.

"I'll sleep on chairs. Lin is staying, too."

Monk sighed. This girl was so stubborn.

"Fine then. Have it your way."

Monk and the others left, leaving Mai and Lin with the still body of Naru. Mai was feeling awkward, as she had nothing to say to Lin, who wasn't speaking either. She plonked herself next to the bed and promptly fell asleep.

Tip tap tap tip tip tip tap. Tap tap tip tap tip tap tap. Mai opened her eyes groggily. What was that noise? She looked up. Lin was sitting in a corner, calmly typing away.

"Lin-san, aren't you worried?"

"No." Mai was expecting more, but the Chinese man had returned his eyes to the screen. _Does he ever stop? _

_The blackness was fading, like a blanket dissolving. No! He felt colder now. Damnit. He stood up and stretched, walking in circles to warm up. His steps became smaller and smaller and he looked down at his now tiny feet. Surprised he checked the rest of himself. His legs had shrunk, and he was wearing…black. Well, that was a relief. He smiled. The darkness had completely gone and he was in some sort of garden, western, not Japanese. _

"_Noll!" An identical boy (but more colourfully dressed) waved to him and beckoned. He ran over. Gene smiled at him and grabbed his hand. Together they ran to a large bush. Gene dropped onto his stomach, wriggling his way inside. Naru followed suit. _

"_Noll, I have something very important to tell you." Naru looked at his brother in surprise. Wasn't his name…? _

"_Noll you have to wake up. They're waiting for you." Wait, who was waiting for him? But the den and Gene had faded, leaving him in a tunnel. A train came past and he jumped on. At the top was a cup of tea, waiting for him. Tea? I don't drink tea. But he drank anyway. It tasted…familiar. Mai's tea. He got off the train, and the rest of his dream consisted of random images._

He opened his eyes. What was that?

"Naru." Lin's voice. He craned his head. Sure enough he was sitting there with a laptop across his knees. Ah, so he did wake up. Naru remembered his dream. It was certainly the weirdest dream he ever had. He never really dreamt much.

"Naru. How do you feel?"

Naru opened his mouth, but it felt weak and dry, like paper. Lin nodded understandingly, and grabbed a cup. He walked out, and a minute later returned with water. Naru managed to sit up enough to drink it. He could feel his brain waking up, and his thoughts became clearer.

He noticed that Lin called him Naru, not Noll, which means that there was another member of SPR here. He could guess who it was, and looked over. Yes, he was right.

Mai had managed to make a bed out of three chairs and a pillow, and was currently sleeping. A shoulder bag was at her feet, meaning she had planned to stay in his room for some time, probably till he woke up.

"Do you want me to wake her up?" Lin asked.

"No."

"She insisted on staying. She blames herself."

"That sounds like Mai." He remembered why he was in hospital. A tree fell on him. It was a new experience.

Mai turned over.

CRASH.

Mai opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor. How did she get there? Oh, she fell of her bed. She could feel someone's eyes on her, and turned around. Lin was looking at her from the other side of Naru's bed. Naru was looking at her, somewhat amused, and it took Mai a second to register that Naru had woken up.

"NARU! You're awake! I'm so sorry, it's all my fault! If I hadn't decided to sing-"

"Mai-"

" You would have been fine. I'm so so sorry. I thought you were going to die-"

"Mai-"

"You were so still and pale and cold. Yes Naru?" She gushed.

"It's not your fault."

"But it is! It's all my fault! I asked Lin what your least favourite song was, and I gave it to everyone."

"Mai. Shut up." Mai's mouth snapped open, ready to argue, but she thought better and did as he said. _Finally, some peace and quiet. _

"Lin, my file."


	22. 4 Gathering part 6

Gathering, Part 6

Naru nearly rolled his eyes, but that would have been a stupid thing to do.

"But what about the ghost? It's gotten even worse since the tree hit…since the tree incident." Ayako said nervously. She was a brave person, but even the bravest would have quailed at the expression on Naru's face. He was NOT a happy bunny.

"We wouldn't have even found you if Mai hadn't spotted your hand." Said Monk, tactfully or cowardly not looking at Naru.

"He's dangerous! We can't wait for Naru to get better, we have to do something now." Mai piped up. "Otherwise Erena-san and her children might not have a house by the time we finish!"

Everyone looked uncomfortable. The ghost had completely destroyed Daichi's bedroom, and Arihiro was getting even more angry. Though thanks to Naru he hadn't taken it out on anyone, yet.

"You can still investigate." Naru said simply.

"How?"

"I can tell you what to do. You will all report back to me."

"While you stay in hospital?"

"Obviously. What did it sound like?" Naru liked the plan. It meant peace, and he could get some work done. He had suffered Mai fussing over him since he had woken up, and once everyone else found out he had woken up they had all insisted on coming over and making a racket. And Masako has started fussing over him even more then Mai. Which was even worse. But he had managed to get Lin to apologise for teaching them that song, and he said that he would never tell them about Grease.

"What do you want us to do?"

"Try to locate the spirit. See how it reacts to an exorcism. I doubt it will be cleansed." Everyone nodded and moved towards the exit. "And Mai?" She looked back.

"Tea." She sighed, rolled her eyes and left. She had gotten him to have some tea out of her flask she had brought with her, but it wasn't fresh enough, and that marred the perfect taste. Mai had seemed hurt that her idea didn't work, but Naru had ignored her feelings as per usual and made her to make some new tea. Which had resulted in a Nurse bringing some, as for some reason Mai wasn't allowed into the kitchen. Though some flirting on Naru's part had solved the problem.

She grumbled something as she put the cup down, and started to leave.

"Mai, make sure someone is always with you." She nodded and went leaving Naru in his favourite company: his own.

When she returned to the house (it was only a short walk from the hospital) Masako was already wondering round the rooms with John exorcising spirits, while Monk and Ayako had returned to base and argued. Yasuhara had left already and Lin was watching the monitors. Mai flopped onto the sofa, right in between the monk and miko. She winced as Ayako missed Monk and accidently hit her instead, which at least put an end to the beating.

Suddenly Lin jumped up.

"Lin?" Monk made his way to the monitors, but nothing was happening.

"My shiki…" He said, looking worried. He had left 3 of them with Naru.

"Naru!" Mai breathed.

"Brown-san, come to the hospital immediately. Hara-san, stay here and if any spirit appears, Takigawa-san will exorcise it. Mitsuzake-san will help you." He was striding to the door, issuing orders. Mai stood up and followed him. John met them in the corridor, together they ran to the hospital.

Naru was sitting in bed reading one of his psychology books. He looked up as the door opened.

"Hara-san? What are you doing here?" He was surprised for once. She was supposed to be at the house getting rid of the ghost. She wouldn't disobey him… ah. His mind reached the most likely conclusion.

"What are you doing here?" He asked again. Masako had stopped by the foot of his bed.

"Oliver. Noll. Kazuya. Naru. Which would you prefer?" Masako said, in a warm, friendly voice that definitely wasn't hers. Naru was silent, trying to think of a way out of this. His hand reached over to his phone.

"Don't be that way. I'm allowing you to pick your name. Surely you'd prefer that?"

"I would prefer you to haunt the house and _not _wander around."

"Ah, but I'm not haunting the house in particular. I volunteered. No, why would I haunt the house of that pathetic man and his sheep wife? No. That was Ouji's job." She chuckled heartily. "But then, you got rid of him. Now I'm in charge."

"I see." Naru's brain raced. _If he wasn't haunting the house, then why was he there? And why did he volunteer? _

"Is that all you have to say? I see why everyone wanted to annoy you. After all, you must be so annoying to them…" Annoying to them? Naru had never thought of it that way. Masako chuckled again.

"You look surprised. Let's see… you are unsocial, try to stop everyone else having fun because you can't, work too much, treat everyone like an idiot, and drink too much tea. At least that's what the little brunet thinks. She also hates how you order her about, never think about her feelings, and never say please or thank you. Quite a strong feeling there. I would say she pretty much hates you." Naru wasn't expecting such a list. "Oh, don't worry, there's more, but I won't tell you. Maybe you should ask?" Naru mentally shook his head. Naru never asks. Not when he can try to figure it out anyway.

Masako laughed. "Why so pale? Oh, wait, I guess that tree had something to do with it. Where does it hurt? Here?" She reached forward to touch Naru's chest. He winced, but otherwise didn't react. "Being brave are we? There's no one else here." She smiled sadistically.

"Who are you? And why Hara-san's body?" He groaned as Masako prodded his ribs.

"Well, she looks so innocent, no one would ever suspect. Except you apparently. How did you guess?"

"She would never disobey a direct order. Well, not one from me anyway."

"Modest, I see." Sarcasm sounded strange when coming from Masako.

"Look through her memories." Masako smiled again.

"I see. Maybe I should have been the little brunet girl?" Masako morphed into Mai.

"Maybe. She would be more likely to have ignored me. She usually does. But there's little point changing now, I know you're a ghost."

"True." Mai stretched. "I like this form. It's easier to move around in then that kimono." Mai reached out towards him. Her hand rested on his chest. Something came out of her palm and into him. He gasped.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Mai smiled happily. "Though maybe this will hurt more…" Mai morphed into Gene.

"That was even more stupid then Hara-san." Naru growled. The door burst open and Lin, John and Mai sprinted into the room. They froze at the scene before them.

"But you won't kill your own brother." Gene grinned. Naru scowled. "Oh, wasn't I supposed to say that?" He asked innocently. Gene flexed. Naru grunted, sweat dripping down his face.

"You won't hurt him, even if he kills you."

"HE'S DEAD!" Naru shouted. Lin's shiki swirled around the ghost.

"You wouldn't want him to die twice though." Gene pointed out. Naru could see the edge of his vision going black. The pain was too much.

"John!" Lin called. The priest remembered himself.

"Right. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, the word was God." He started reciting. Gene stopped smiling. The pain lifted slightly and Naru fainted.

"In principio." John finished, making the sign of the cross. Gene vanished.

"Naru!" Mai rushed to his side, Lin close behind her. John went to the other side of his bed.

A doctor entered the room, there was a gathering of nurses at the door looking terrified. It seemed that Naru shouting "he's dead" had caught some attention, but the nurses were too scared to enter the room. Especially when the patients mirror image disappeared. That was most definitely not normal, and not normal scared people. The doctor had been first to come to his senses.

He checked Naru's vitals, then declared that he would come round soon. They waited patiently. Naru groaned, his eyelids fluttered.

"No…hurts…too much…." He muttered.

"Can you hear me?" The doctor asked.

"D-doctor?" Said doctor took out a torch and checked first one eye, then the other.

"He should be fine, he just needs rest." Naru shifted, and paled. The doctor moved the bed cover. A red patch blossomed on his bandages. Sighing the doctor unwrapped them. A large gash had appeared on Naru's side which was bleeding profusely.

"Everybody out!" He waved the 2 teenagers and man out of the room.

2 weeks later Naru discharged himself, to everyone's annoyance, including the hospitals. He continued working as though nothing had happened. Ayako, Monk, John, Yasuhara and Masako would come and check on him. It was as though they purposefully arranged that there would always be someone else in the office. Which annoyed him to no end.

Mai was burning with curiosity about Naru's brother, but kept quiet about it. She knew that he had died, and that Naru was close to him from the ghost's exchange with Naru in the hospital. She knew that it had hurt Naru while in his form, and that must have hurt Naru even more. If she asked Naru about him, he might get angry at her, or get moody, or depressed. She didn't want to inflict more pain on him, especially while he was still healing. She thought about asking Lin, but she knew that he would shake her questions off, like he always did.

There were no customers for a while. Yasuhara hadn't carried out his plan, and for that she was glad. But Yasuhara had carried his revenge plan on Arihiro.

While Naru was still in hospital they went back to the house to pack up. Arihiro wasn't there yet, after SPR had sent him out while they removed things. He had gone to town. They loaded the van, then prepared.

Arihiro opened the front door.

"I'm home! And hungry!" He shouted. He never thought to look up. Ayako pulled the string, and water poured down onto Arihiro.

"What the? What the hell is this? Erena!" He screamed. He moved towards the kitchen. Monk grinned and pulled the wire taught. Arihiro yelped as he hit the floor heavily. He staggered over to the tap, trying to see through the water dripping in his face, he turned on the cold tap.

"OW" He yelled as boiling water burst from the tap, scalding him. "Erena! Come her NOW! You are in big trouble!"

"Big trouble, is she?" The voice came from everywhere at once. Arihiro could barely make out the words, it was so distorted. Several people laughed at the same time. It sounded inhuman. Arihiro covered his ears, and tried to go upstairs. He put his weight on the first step.

CRACK!

The step broke and he fell forwards. The now irate Arihiro charged up the rest of the stairs. He opened the first bedroom door. The bucket was disturbed and dumped its contents on him. Flour covered him from head to toe. The bucket fell last onto his head.

"Oww." He rubbed his head. He tried to wipe his hands, but the floury-watery goo just transferred itself onto his trousers. Well, the bits that would come off. He scowled. And stormed out.

He eyed the next door wearily. Slowly, with his foot, he pushed it open. Nothing happened. Relieved, he went in. The door slammed behind him. In front of him was…his family? But they weren't. He moved forwards. Erena had blood caked on her wrists, it was dribbling down her hands. He moved forwards. What was this? Why was she grey? No, no, no please no.

He jumped backwards, and tugged at the door, but it wouldn't open. The temperature in the room was dropping rapidly. Erena moved forwards. Her voice came from everywhere at once.

"See what you did! The children are gone, I am dead. All your fault! You killed me! And because of this, I shall haunt you till the day you die." She vanished but the room stayed cold, but Arihiro was scrabbling at the door in terror. The door clicked and he opened it. He ran from the house, falling at the bottom step, and fled.

Yasuhara, Monk, Ayako and Masako emerged. They laughed into the machines they were carrying, filling the house with distorted, inhuman cackles. Monk reached up and turned the projector off and unplugged it.

Arihiro got into his car, and started driving, away, away from his house.

"You can't get away that easily!" The voice rang throughout the car. Arihiro whimpered and drove faster, stopping outside the office of SPR. He flung open the door.

"You haven't gotten rid of the ghost!" He cried. The receptionist who he remembered beating gave him an odd look.

"Ghost? What ghost?"

"The ghost of Erena! She killed herself! She's haunting me!"

"Erena isn't dead."

"Are you telling me I don't know what I saw?" He grabbed her shoulders.

"I'd rather you didn't assault my assistant." A cold voice interrupted him. Arihiro let go of Mai. He squeaked, expecting something to happen.

"Arihiro?" A familiar voice asked. He looked up. Erena was staring at him from the sofa.

"B-but but you're dead! I saw your ghost!"

"Are you feeling alright?" The assistant asked him in a strange voice.

"Of course I am! Do I look like I'm not?"

"In answer to your question yes. Now what are you doing here?" Naru cut through the confusion.

"…"

"Mai, escort him out."

"nnhn"

"Pardon?"

"nnhn." Mai lead the flabbergasted Arihiro towards the door.

"Isn't there anything you want to say to your wife?" Mai asked pointedly.

"nnhn"

"I think a sorry would do nicely."

"Sorry."

"Good. Now don't you want her to come with you? And the children, you must love them really."

"Yes. Erena, come."

"NO!" Mai shouted at him, as he was lifted into the air. "Naru, stop it!" Arihiro returned to the ground. "I think it would be better for you to ask her. I think it would be better, for you and her, if you treated her with the respect she deserves. She can always leave you. And Naru can always slam you into a wall." Silence.

"Erena, I was, er, would you come back?" Erena nodded. They walked towards the door.

"But I have made arrangements to leave if you…" she trailed off. Arihiro nodded, and they left.

"Mai, tea" Naru returned to his lair. There was a knock on his door, and Mai entered. She put the tea in front of him.

"You know Naru, sometimes you treat me like he treated her. Mai, this. Mai, that." Naru painfully remembered the ghost in the hospital.

"Do you hate me?" She looked at him, surprised. It wasn't the response she was expecting. He stared into her eyes, as if seeking the answer there, and her heart sped up. _Traitor _she scolded it.

"No." He continued to look into her eyes. She couldn't move, or think, and was having difficulty breathing.

"Don't ever insinuate that I am like that man again." He returned to his book.

* * *

**I liked this chapter :) our longest one to date. Though Naru was parhaps a bit OOC at the end. And the "ghost" of Erena wasn't real. Yasuhara is evil sometimes, but that's the way we like him! :D anyway, he deserved it. We made the ending nice, coz we though Mai would be likely to try and give him a second chance, she's far too nice. But that's the way we like her! :D**

**Thanks so much to our readers, and most of all to our reviewers: Ariana Taniyama, crazylittlecheeser, heavensblackcat, weezerz2490, Chibi-Kyuubi-Chan and Fox Trot 9. **


	23. 5 Childs Play part 1

Childs Play, Part 1

"Mai! Mai, wake up!" Monk was shaking her shoulder. That wasn't working. He tried another tactic.

"Mai, GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP AND HELP WITH THE WORK!" Everyone turned around to stare at Monk. Nope, no reaction. He scratched his head.

"Naru's gonna murder you when you wake up." Well, she wasn't faking it. _Um…what always gets a reaction? …. Let's see…._

"Mai, Naru's holding your hand. He just started stroking your face." Naru shot Monk an angry glare. Not even a blush spread across her features. Monk sighed again, and gave up.

"Naru, she won't wake up!" Monk called. Naru rolled his eyes.

"I think we noticed that already." He put down the monitor he was holding. "The equipment still needs to be taken to the base. I don't think it's time for a rest yet." He said to everyone else, who had stopped what they were doing to watch the situation. The owner of the house came out.

"Naru! You should ask people to carry on taking equipment. They don't have to do this!" Madoka called out. Though she was starting to think that she was fighting a losing battle.

"Its fine, we don't mind!" John soothed.

"Speak for yourself." Monk muttered.

"Hello, I am Eto Wakasa. I will show you to the room we thought would be best for your base. Is everything all right?"

"Yes thank you." Said Madoka, taking charge. "Please, don't mind Shibuya-san, he is getting some extra stuff, he will find his way." The man lead them into the house.

Naru walked to the passenger seats of the van. _I've gone 5 hours without tea, and now Mai's unconscious. Great. _He picked her up and carried her to the base. _How does she eat so much and stay so light? _As he arrived in base everyone looked up.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Mai and she started writhing in Naru's arms, tears streaming down her face. He put her down on the couch.

"Lin!" Lin nodded hurrying to the kitchen. Mai was still thrashing around, like she was having a seizure. Naru held her head to make sure she didn't injure herself, when, just as quickly as it had started, it stopped.

Lin returned and Naru set his mouth in a grim line, before taking the glass of water and splashing in her face.

"Naru!" called Ayako, Monk, Madoka and John together. Mai coughed and spluttered.

_-FLASHBACK-_

_Mai had been bringing Naru's tea to his office when the door opened. _

"_Um, is this Shibuya Psychic Research?" A scared looking woman asked._

"_Yes, do you have an appointment?" Mai asked smiling reassuringly._

"_Oh," the woman's face fell. "I didn't realise you needed one. Could I speak anyway?" Mai took pity on her, she looked terrified._

"_Of course." She guided the woman to the sofa. "Tea?" The woman nodded and she handed her Naru's. Then she went to knock on Naru's door._

"_Mai, why are you taking so long? I believe I asked for you to brew tea, not grow it yourself."_

"_Naru, we have a customer. She doesn't have an appointment, but she looks so scared…" Naru sighed. It was just like Mai to let anyone who looked remotely scared into the office without a second thought. Well, she was here now. _

"_Where is my tea?" He asked._

"_I'll make some more." She said before hurrying away to fetch Lin. He strode into the waiting/interview room._

"_My name is Shibuya Kazuya, how can we help you?" He asked sitting down opposite the woman. _

_The woman looked at him confused. "I thought you'd be… older. Are you sure you aren't too young?"_

_Naru nearly glared at the woman, but that tended to scare them away and he wanted a case. He wanted to work._

"_I have had 100% success." It was true, but the woman looked doubtful. Naru knew that she'd go on to tell them about the case anyway. She looked scared enough._

"_My name is Eto Ikue. My family and me moved into our house about a year ago. We have three children, you see, and they loved it. But strange things started happening. About a month in the servants started acting strangely. The cook started a vegetable patch and his wife seemed to be convinced she lived at the foot of a mountain. Of course I ignored it. They were good workers and nice people, so I didn't want to make them go. However one of the other servants, a young man, started to eat the vegetables. When the cook and his wife chased the man away he bit the wife on the leg. It was a bad bite, so the cook asked for some medicine. My husband saw this and decided to help. He said he would take revenge for him. So next time he saw the young servant, he asked for help carrying hay. However, when the man wasn't noticing he set the hay on fire, and it burnt the servant, though not badly. The servant said sorry to the cook and his wife, and they had a meal together. The weird bit is neither the servant can remember biting the cook's wife, nor can my husband remember saying he'd take revenge or setting hay on fire. He doesn't remember why he was carrying hay either. The really strange thing is that it's just like this fairytale my Grandma told me when I was young, called Kachi-Kachi Yama."_

"_That could be a practical joke though." Lin, for the first time in an interview, spoke up._

"_Well, yes. That's what I thought. They were all told off, my husband especially. But there have been other things. My children have also seen the ghost of a young boy. The previous owners tried to tell us the house was haunted, but we didn't believe them. They said that they had found "Why won't you play with me?" written on the walls when they returned home after work. The strange bit is that it was written in a child's hand writing, but they didn't have any children."_

_Naru and Lin glanced at each other. Lin nodded._

"_We will take your case. Expect us in a couple of days. Leave contact details with my assistant please." Naru gestured in Mai's direction. The woman nodded, looking relieved. Naru stood up and left, as did Lin. _

_After Naru came out of the hospital they had not been taking any cases. Naru had tried to, but Lin had stopped him. Something about telling his parents, though Mai thought it would be kinder not to ask. Similarly she had not asked him about his dead, mirror image brother, or the fact that his least favourite song was in English. Though she was dying to. Naru seemed to be avoiding her while trying to make it appear that he wasn't. _

_8 weeks on, Naru's ribs were healed so Lin had no power to stop him from taking cases, and he had jumped at the first one that had come along. Which was how they had ended up taking this case. _

_Everyone had been called, and they had just been about to go, when a certain pink-haired woman strode into the office._

"_Why didn't you tell me about this case?" Naru had looked up annoyed. First he was babysat for 8 weeks, and now Madoka had insisted on coming too. _

"_Lucky for you, Lin contacted me! Well, I contacted Lin, but it comes to the same thing!" Naru had looked at Lin annoyed, but he had just looked helpless. Everyone else had that slightly shocked look that came with either Naru being put down or Lin being made to speak. _

"_Madoka!" Mai cried, being the first person to react, running up and wrapping her arms around her._

"_Mai! Long time no see! How are you? You're still here? Naru doesn't deserve you." Madoka glanced at Naru as she said this. _

"_Er, Naru-"_

"_Even better for us! In some ways it is a shame they haven't eloped yet, but then I wouldn't get to talk to the rest of you! Hello everyone!" She waved happily. Naru sighed. He knew there was a reason why he shouldn't have let everyone get to know Madoka._

"_We're going to be late." He shut his folder with a loud SNAP, restoring quiet._

"_Naru!" Madoka warned. Naru rolled his eyes. He stood up and walked out._

"_It's alright, really, Madoka." Mai said. _

"_No, it's not. I will have a little word with him about manners later. Anyway, shall we go?" They nodded, and everyone went towards Monk's car and the van. Due to the increased numbers of SPR and the fact that everyone could come Lin had to pull up an extra seat in the van, and 5 people had to squeeze themselves into Monk's tiny car. Madoka had insisted on sitting in the front of the van, between Lin and Naru and was busy having her 'little chat', leaving Mai squished next to the equipment in the back seat. _

_She sighed. Madoka was fun to have around, but there was no way Naru would ever change. Her head slipped down the window. It was such a long journey. She thought more about Naru. And before she knew it she was asleep. _

"_Naru?" She called into the velvety blackness._

"_I'm here." Naru smiled reassuringly down at her. I wonder why he's so different during my dreams, she thought for the hundredth time. _

"_You already know the answer." Naru said._

"_I do?"_

"_Think about it." Mai was silent. Naru put his hands on her shoulders and steered her into the vision. _

_A little boy was sitting in his room with a servant. She was distracted and kept on looking worriedly at the door. The little boy was also nervous. He sat there not speaking, but twiddling his thumbs. He looked about 6 or 7. Mai took in the room, it was large, and full of toys. Through the window she could see a huge, beautiful sakura tree. _

_Her observations were cut of by a loud scream. She looked up at not-quite-Naru Naru. He smiled reassuringly and gripped her hand. _

"_Stay." Naru said. The little boy had looked up, distraught, and the servant was looking scared. The boy went back to studying his feet and twiddling his thumbs. There were a few more screams, then silence, which was even worse. Naru winced as her grip on his hand tightened. _

_The boy and the servant stood up. They looked at each other, and apparently neither of them could stand waiting any more. Mai followed. They moved upstairs._

_Mai looked down distracted as her body started to fade at the feet. _

"_What's happening?" Mai started panicking._

"_They're trying to wake you up. The monk I think."_

"_He-!" Mai's resolve strengthened and her feet returned. _

_She carried on upstairs, hurrying to catch up with the boy and the servant. They moved towards a doorway a man's sobbing was coming from. They drew closer and froze at the doorway. Mai came up behind them and froze. A woman was lying on a bed, covered in blood. She was pale, and clearly tired. There was a woman standing next to her holding a grey baby. Tears began to fall down Mai's cheeks. _

"_Let…me see…" The woman on the bed said quietly. The midwife looked at the baby. And slowly held out the child to the woman. The man who was sobbing was at her side, holding her hand. She wriggled out of his grip, and grabbed the baby to her body. _

"_No. No, no, no." She wailed, grief taking over. She clutched it harder, as though that could bring it back to life. _

"_NO!" She cried and sobbed and screamed, and there was nothing anybody could do. The man was trying to comfort her, but he turned around when he heard a noise from the doorway._

"_Get him out of here!" He shouted to the servant. _

_The woman had stopped crying and was now having some kind of fit. She was trying to breathe, but the more she gasped the more her colour started to fade._

"_NOOOOOOOOO!" Mai screamed. She couldn't die, not after the baby. Naru hugged her, and she squirmed, trying to get away, to help the woman, anything to help her. Why was no one doing anything? She was dying. _

"_Mai there is nothing you can do. It already happened."Naru reminded her sadly. She stopped struggling as the woman took a last drawn out breath. The man was sobbing harder then ever._

"_I'm sor-" Naru's voice was suddenly cut off._

Mai spluttered and coughed, water dripping down her face.

* * *

**New case :) It is a slightly weird one. But I quite like this chapter. Though Mai is getting close to unraveling Naru's secrets. The plot threads are starting to twist... and Mai and Naru are caught in the web... just decided to put a moment in there :/**


	24. 5 Childs Play part 2

Childs Play, Part 2

Yasuhara Schemes

Mai spluttered and coughed, water dripping down her face. _Where am I?_ She took in a strange room, filled with equipment, and everyone standing round looking worried. Last of all she took in Naru right in front of her, glass in hand.

"Why you-!" she started.

"Mai, when we try to wake you it's for a reason. Do not, under any circumstances, refuse to wake up." Naru growled.

"But-"

"No buts! Promise me that you will never do that again." Mai looked at him confused. He looked worried, and slightly paler then usual. Lin also looked pale. It must be bad if even Lin was reacting that way.

"I promise." Naru nodded and left.

"Naru…" Lin started, and followed him. Everyone else (except of course Madoka) looked completely baffled.

"What was that?" Monk voiced everyone's question. Ayako shrugged.

"Are you okay?" Madoka asked Mai, kneeling next to her.

"Yeah. I had a dream…"

"It was a bad one, huh?" Ayako asked.

"What?"

"You screamed no really loudly and then you started thrashing around like you were having a fit. Naru almost dropped you." John explained. _Naru was carrying me? _She started to blush.

"You don't have to tell us about it now." Monk said soothingly, remembering the case before last when she had started crying.

Mai reassured Monk, and then proceeded to explain her dream.

"I was wondering whether you'd like a tour of the house, now that you're settled in. I hope everything is fine, Mori-san." Wakasa stood in the doorway, with Naru and Lin just behind him. He smiled kindly.

"We would love a tour, thank you. And everything is fine." Madoka put on her best smile.

"Oh good. And who are you? I don't think we've met yet." He asked Mai.

"Taniyama Mai. And you?" Mai smiled at the kind looking man.

"Eto Wakasa. Okay then, this way." He led them through the house. It was huge, and old fashioned. There were 3 floors, and on the roof there was a little rock garden. From there you could see the whole garden and surrounding land. The garden was very beautiful, in the middle was the massive sakura tree. A walk way lined with Japanese Acers ran round one side and a stream flowed towards the end of the garden. On the left the garden finished at a wood, which the stream disappeared into.

"It's beautiful." Mai breathed.

"Thank you, Taniyama-san. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask me, my wife, or any of the servants." He bowed, and left.

SPR headed back into the house too, only Mai stayed behind, still looking at the view.

"Mai, are you coming or not?" Naru's voice interrupted her thoughts. _Think of the devil…_

"Naru…"

"Yes?"

"Never mind." _Coward _she admonished herself. One black eyebrow rose.

Mai stormed back to base, with Naru close behind.

"Mai, Yasuhara and Takigawa set up the cameras. Ayako and Masako go through the house. John and Madoka, if you would set up the mics." They nodded, and set off. Naru picked up the file Yasuhara had brought.

"Are you going to tell her?" Lin asked Naru quietly.

"Not unless she asks."Lin nodded.

* * *

_Why do I always get stuck with these two? _Mai angrily thought as Yasuhara and Monk smiled identical grins. _I am going to definitely have a word with Naru about it. Maybe I can request Madoka or John…_

"What are you thinking, Mai-chan?" Light glinted of Yasuhara's glasses.

"N-nothing." She quailed at the look on their faces.

"Really? Well, we've been thinking about Naru-chan. Haven't you?"

Mai gulped. "No…"

"Mai, you're blushing." Monk laughed.

"No I'm not!" Mai's survival instinct kicked in, and she felt a sudden urge to run. They were done, and walking back to base. Just round the corner was her escape…

"Mai-chan! Don't run away from us!" Monk sounded reproachful.

"I'm not running away!" Mai protested, turning round to accuse them. They nodded to each other, and pounced. Literally.

"What a-are you d-d-doing?" Mai stuttered as she was pushed into the wall. Yasuhara put his arms on either side of her head. He leaned forward.

"Making Naru extremely jealous" He whispered into her ear.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yasuhara, what are you doing?" A cold voice interrupted.

"Me? Nothing. Well, see you later Mai." He said nonchalantly, winked at her and left. Monk seemed to have gone some time ago. Naru grabbed her wrist and dragged her to base.

Monk and Ayako looked up as they entered. _How did he get here so quickly? _

"Mai, you didn't tell us you were dating Yasuhara!" Ayako called out from across the room.

"I'm not!"

"Judging from what Bou-san saw…" Mai glared at said monk. _What was going on? _Naru had sat down and was reading a file, and Lin was at the monitors. There was no one she could run to.

"Naru, do you want tea?" A single nod. She quickly made her escape, but much to her dismay she found Ayako getting up as well.

"We wouldn't want her to go alone, would we? Naru?" A single shake. Ayako beamed and they set of.

"So tell me everything!"

"Ayako, really, there's nothing to tell!"

"Mai, what's this about you and Yasuhara-san?" Madoka appeared from nowhere.

"There's nothing going on between us! I just like him as a friend!" Mai protested. Masako sighed.

"Bou-san said-"

"He's lying! They planned it! Masako, please believe me!" Masako giggled behind her kimono sleeve. _How did Monk tell them all that quickly? _Mai's brain raced. She decided the best course of action was not to say anything, so they couldn't use anything against her. The three other women started laughing.

"Mai, you shouldn't be ashamed. He's quite good looking. Not as much as Naru of course but…"

Mai made tea with the others taunting her. On the way back to base she still said nothing. She put the tea on his desk and sank onto the couch, still ignoring them. She just wanted peace and quiet, and time to think. _Oh no, Naru's rubbing of on me! _She blushed slightly.

Everyone laughed. She looked up confused.

"Wow, you went quite far then!" Monk teased. Another laugh. It seemed even Lin was in on this, as he smiled slightly. Naru pretended to be reading, but his eyes hadn't moved since Mai had looked up. She needed to escape.

"Mai, tea."

"But I just gave you tea!"

"I'll come with you." Naru handed her the empty cup and walked out of base, glaring at the others as if daring them to come too.

"Er, right." They walked back to the kitchen in silence. Mai was scared to speak, and Naru's mind was in turmoil.

"I- he didn't-they're just…" Mai started, then took a deep breath. "We didn't do anything, I swear. They're, all of them are planning something! How else would Madoka and Masako know before Bou-san could possibly get to them. I mean, not that there's anything to know but…" She trailed off. Naru looked at her out of the corner of his eye. _Is she telling the truth?_ Naru was having trouble thinking straight. In his mind he walked round the corner, only to find Yasuhara with Mai trapped against the wall. _What had I really seen? Just Yasuhara leaning down to her face, but that suggested enough. I had been so…angry. Think, Naru, think._ _Since when do I call myself Naru? 'You already know the answer' _a little voice in his mind spoke. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning. He sat down at a stool and watched Mai make tea. _Yasuhara is a trouble maker, and he would come up with something like this, but why?_

Mai was thinking, too. She was only half aware of her making tea, but she had made enough tea to be able to automatically do it. _And now everyone thinks me and Yasuhara are dating! _She glanced at Naru. _He seems to be thinking about something, too. _She replayed the scene in her mind. _I wonder what Yasuhara meant by making Naru jealous. _She handed the tea to Naru who didn't move from the stool. He drank the tea. Mai felt awkward.

They walked back to base in silence. Naru went immediately back to his book. Mai awkwardly sat in a corner, far away from Yasuhara, Monk, Madoka and Ayako. Masako and John were not paying any attention to her or the others. She could hear Monk and Yasuhara whispering and Madoka was giggling.

Mai needed air, and she needed to get away from Monk's glancing eyes, Yasuhara's frankly creepy grin and Ayako and Madoka's giggling. She made her way outside, and sat beneath the Sakura tree. She was peacefully thinking to herself (she did have a lot to think about…Naru….Naru…and er, Naru) when John came out of the house and started towards her.

"John!" She said happily, but the priest ignored her and made his way towards the woods at the end of the garden.

"John? Where are you going?"She stood up. "John!" Something was wrong.

"Oh dear, I'm going to be late." He spoke to himself and checked his watch. _Late for what? _Mai was curious, so she did what any curious Mai worth her salt would have done: followed him. He moved quickly towards the wood. _Maybe he's meeting someone, but why would he be meeting anyone? It won't be a girl, as he's a priest, it wouldn't be a friend, they'd just wait for him to get back…_ John was now well in the trees, she could just see him up ahead. She turned around as she heard a twig snap. Nothing happened. She sighed. _This wood is creepy! _She turned back. _Wait, where's he gone? _She hurried, trying to catch up with him…

She tripped over the branch on the floor, and closed her eyes waiting for impact…_what?_ She opened her eyes but could only see darkness. She landed heavily at the bottom of some kind of well. _At least it's dry…Is that? No way…_ She opened her eyes wider, but sure enough in the distance she could see light, and somebody moving…A mop of blonde hair and a green jumper…John! She stood up and moved forward, nervous in the dark. A trickle of water ran past her, and she stepped into it. The splash rang in the tunnel.

_Stay calm, there's nothing here, nothing's gonna happen. John was fine._ She tried desperately to reassure herself, all the while moving forward slowly. The trickle was joined by a small stream about half way down. She tramped towards the end, fed up, wet and cold. And of course (being a saltworthy Mai) she tripped several times, each time getting up and moving faster towards the end. Eventually she emerged in the wood, she could here her name being called in the distance. _I must be somewhere near the house.._

"Mai?" Masako looked down at her.

"Masako? What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for you. You go missing for more then half an hour and Bou-san goes crazy. John also went missing, but he came back. He had wet trousers for some reason…" Masako looked thoughtful.

"Could you give me a hand?" Mai was sopping wet, and shivering. Masako rolled her eyes, but held out her hand. Mai grabbed it, and stepped out. She slipped on a stone and fell backwards into the stream dragging Masako with her.

There was a snort. Yasuhara and Monk appeared, trying not to laugh.

"MAI!" Masako screamed.

* * *

**NOTE CONTAINS SPOILERS! I just wrote soldiers, coz we're warchig dr who (multitasking skillz) and there are soldiers. We have decided to now give Chapters names as well as **Case Title, Part Number** because, well, we're not sure why. Because we feel like it. Like Jack FM, playing what we want. Except not really... anyway, back to the story. Masako is not a happy bunny, and John is not quite...John. They're so cute ^_^ Ahh, don't worry, Masako wake up and will realise Naru is not for her . AHHH spoilers! no no no. I'll shut up. **


	25. 5 Childs Play part 3

Childs Play, Part 3

Tea

Mai and Masako had floundered in the stream, much to the amusement of Monk and Yasuhara. Their laughs and Masako's screaming attracted the others, and soon everyone was gathered round watching an irate Masako telling off a shame faced Mai for getting her wet. Then she tried to climb out of the stream, but stumbled because of her kimono (it was bound to cause an accident some day…) falling back in and making Mai trip over. Mai sighed. _I wish my cat was here…_

"What?" Mai asked, confused.

Ayako and John took pity and helped Masako out, while Mai scrambled after her. The breeze picked up and Masako and Mai both shivered. Madoka took off her coat and wrapped it around Masako, glaring at Naru so he got the message. With a small sigh he took off his as well and draped it across Mai. They made their way back to base, Yasu and Monk still chuckling.

"Is everything alright?" Wakasa asked when he saw the procession. Naru nodded.

"Yes, two of our group fell in a stream. We need something hot for them."

"Please would you make a couple of hot drinks Wakasa-san?" Madoka asked the man, elbowing Naru. His face remained expressionless and after a moment he stalked off. Madoka sighed. "Really, someone ought to teach him better manners…" She muttered and then the rest became unintelligible.

Everyone followed him to the base. John sat Masako down on the couch as Monk gave Mai a bear hug.

"You two aren't too cold are you?" John asked worriedly.

"I'm fine John thanks." Mai smiled at him from underneath Monk's elbow.

"Maybe you should sit down…" he persisted. Mai smiled and did so, curling up and wrapping the coat around her. Subconsciously she took a deep breath and smiled.

"Wow, she's really obvious." Yasuhara chimed in Naru's general direction. Naru's grip tightened, he was not entirely happy with Yasuhara just now.

"Obvious about what?" Ayako asked.

"That she likes Naru-chan!" Naru had to stop his eyebrow from floating into the area of his forehead. _Mai likes me? That's impossible. She was just momentarily attracted to my good looks. No one likes me, even as a friend. I'm not even sure if Lin likes me, and I'm pretty sure Madoka is out to get me. 'Having a little teenage moment?' And now I'm speaking to myself._

"I do not!" Mai protested.

"Mai, you're blushing again." Monk pointed out. Mai buried her face into the coat so no one could see it. She said something, but it was muffled by the coat. _Now I've practically confessed. In front of everyone too…_ she cringed.

There was a knock on the door before it slid open. "The drinks." Wakasa announced, before smiling kindly at Masako and the black lump which contained Mai, and leaving.

"Mai, why were you in the stream in the first place?" Monk asked curiously.

"I was following John, when I fell down a well, and at the bottom there was a sort of tunnel which the stream ran through. I went through that as John went down it so I guessed it would be safe, and it came out in the woods. And I couldn't see John anymore."

"But I haven't been down any wells or tunnels." John looked perplexed.

"You did come back with wet trousers, which you couldn't explain." Naru didn't look up from the file as he said this. _So he was listening all along_ Yasuhara thought gleefully. "Did you see John meet anyone?" he asked Mai.

"No, he just walked into the well, down the tunnel, and from what Masako said, straight to base. He did say that he was going to be late." Naru held his chin with his finger and thumb.

"So, John was possessed, but why?" Ayako asked.

"I don't know yet."

"Maybe this is another story thing, like Ikue-san said in the interview." Yasuhara pointed out.

"I can't think of any stories that involve wells with tunnels at the bottom."

"Oh yeah, and when I was in the stream with Masako I thought 'I wish my cat was here.' But I don't have a cat!" Masako shifted. "Masako are you alright?"

"I don't like cats."

"Why not?" Ayako asked.

"I'm allergic."

"To cats?" Monk chuckled.

"Yes. It is possible."

'_I thought about suggesting a race for you to get dry.'_ Naru thought.

"This is a very strange story, whatever it is." Monk looked baffled.

"Who is this ghost anyway?" John asked.

"Judging from Mai's dream, it would be one of the family: the mother, the father, the maid, the boy or the midwife. I doubt it would be the baby. Unfortunately this house seems to have a lot of women who died from child birth in it." Naru looked at the file. "Coupled with the fact that the children saw the ghost of a little boy, and the child's handwriting, it is probably the little boy. John, would you perform an exorcism tonight?" John nodded. "Try the boy's bedroom, Mai will tell you which one it is."

* * *

John stepped into the middle of the room. Mai felt like sitting down, but she knew from experience that it was better to be able to move quickly, which meant standing up. John splashed holy water and started reading from his bible. Soon it was over. Mai looked around nervously, everything seemed too quiet.

"Masako, is the spirit gone?"

"Masako-_san _Mai, and I cannot sense him anywhere but…" She trailed off, not quite sure how to describe the uneasiness she felt. She closed her eyes and searched the house, and there was nothing but…

"You don't think he's gone either." Mai finished for her. Masako nodded.

"Maybe we exorcised the wrong place?" Monk asked. Naru didn't answer.

"Well, either way, let's go back to base. My legs ache." Madoka led the way. Ayako, Masako and Madoka sat on the couch, while Mai leaned back on Madoka's legs. She felt happy: her entire family was around her. She didn't even mind Masako that much, though she seemed to be angry with her over the stream incident. She sighed.

"Mai, tea." Trust Naru to decrease her mood gauge.

"Yes, come on Mai-chan, the boss needs his tea!" Yasuhara stepped forward. Everyone looked expectantly at Naru.

"John, go with her." He said emotionlessly. There was silence in the room. John had not moved, but stood there looking torn. Naru looked up, everyone held their breath. "John!" He said warningly. He still did nothing. _Of all people, I thought John at least would listen to me._ He sighed.

"If it bothers you that much, go yourself." Madoka called, amusement lighting up her eyes. Naru glared at her but stood up. "Yasuhara, you can stay." Naru and Mai left the room. As soon as everyone was sure they were out of hearing distance they laughed. Well, except Masako whose lips had set in a grim line. She looked like she was about to kill something.

"Well done John! I thought you were going to go for sure." Monk patted him on the back.

"Yasuhara, you sly devil." Madoka grinned.

"If they don't get together after this…" Yasuhara trailed off.

"I wouldn't count on it working." Lin said quietly. "Naru doesn't show his feelings well. Even if he has realised that he loves her, he won't say anything." Everyone calmed down. They hated to admit it, but Lin was right.

"He does have a point." John stated.

"Not to worry, I have other plans!" Yasuhara's grin sent shivers down everyone's spin. They all seriously hoped that none of these plans were for them.

Mai was surprised that Naru had actually listened to the others. She glanced at him, but he seemed to be lost in thought. In a way, she would have preferred for John to come. He was so nice and kind. And Naru was even more silent then usual.

"What are you thinking about?"

"The story."

"Do you recognise it?" Naru sighed, running a hand through his hair. _Someone falls down a well, goes down a tunnel. And then what? Is the water important? What about the cat? And Masako's allergy to cats? And the race. A race to get dry…I'm missing something here…Why does this seem so familiar? _

They had got to the kitchen, and Naru was brought back to reality when a steaming cup swam into his vision. With a start he remembered himself, sat down and sipped the tea.

"_Noll? What are you reading now?" Gene waved a hand in front of him. He snatched the book away. "Mapping the Brain? You're always reading this psychology stuff. Why don't you read a kid's book?" Gene looked at the page number and closed the book._

"_Gene! I'm reading it to find out more." Naru scowled at him. Gene laughed._

"_Come on, we're only 8!"_

"_But it's a very easy to read and informative book." Naru protested. Gene raised his eyebrow in imitation of him. Gene grabbed his hand and dragged Naru to his bedroom. He climbed onto the chest of drawers to reach the bookshelf. He ran his finger over the spines._

"_No. No. Definitely not! No…" Naru folded his arms over his chest. Gene was clearly annoyed that Naru refused to read any of his books._

"_Fine. Try this one!" Gene pulled out the next book at random and tossed it over his shoulder, straight at Naru, who caught it easily. He looked down at the picture of the little blonde girl on the cover._

"_I am NOT reading this." He said calmly. Gene smiled scarily. He most definitely would. _

"Naru?" Naru zoned back in to find Mai waving her arms in front of his face.

"Stop it Mai." _If only he could remember the name of the book…_

"You were the one whose eyes glazed over and wouldn't respond!" She huffed. Naru sipped his tea.

"Mai, the tea is cold." He said. Annoyed she grabbed the cup muttering something under her breath. Naru smirked. It was so easy to annoy her. Soon another steaming cup was pushed into his hands.

"They're gone a long time…" Madoka said. Naru had left them nothing to do, so they were bored. Masako had retreated into the corner of the couch, clearly not happy. Yasuhara was whispering to Monk and Ayako who were glancing at Lin, who was busy typing away. John had positioned himself in between the three and Masako, who occasionally glared at them. Madoka was trying to hold a conversation with John. Eventually she gave up, the guy was clearly too nervous to pay proper attention.

"That's true. Do you think Lin was wrong?" Ayako glanced at said man, for the 9th time. There was a pause in the typing. Lin glanced at the screens, which everyone by unspoken agreement had decided not to check. Mai was trying to get Naru's attention.

"They're not doing anything." He said. Yasuhara made his way over.

"How many hours of sleep did Naru get last night?" He asked. Lin deigned to reply.

"Maybe we shouldn't push him…" Ayako sounded worried.

"How are we going to tell him that Yasuhara and Mai aren't dating?"

They were interrupted by Naru striding into the room, with a confused Mai jogging behind him.

"I know what story it is." He announced.

* * *

**Sorry for the delay ():) -angel face we have been away for a couple of days. Also this weekend we move! so no more writting for a bit. while we unpack everything. And in answer to the question, the ghost from the last case basically eats away at Naru, it puts a bit of itself in him. Not very pleasant, but Naru wouldn't react to anything less :( he is far too stubborn. **


	26. 5 Childs Play part 4

Childs Play, Part 4

Taking Parts

_Mai was lying in the dark. A single white orb floated somewhere in the distance. A dream. She sat up and looked around for Dream-Naru._

"_Naru?"_

"_I'm here." He was sitting next to her. She remembered last time, when Naru woke her up._

"_Naru…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Why did you get so annoyed that I didn't wake up?"_

"_Ask N-me when you wake up."_

"_But-" But Dream-Naru ignored her and helped her up. The dream rushed forward. She could see the man from before, the one whose wife died. He was standing by a grave. He placed the flowers he had on it, before wiping some blossoms off. Then he turned to the tiny grave of the child, and placed another flower on the soft earth. _

_He turned and walked back to the house. Mai and Dream-Naru followed. When he got into the house he headed straight to his room, ignoring the boy who called to him. He slammed the door behind him and leaned on it for a second, then locked the door. They stepped through the door after him. Mai shivered at the strange feeling, but then concentrated on the dream._

_The man went to the cabinet in the corner and pulled out some Sake. _

"_Umeka." He whispered, cradling his glass, before downing the contents in one. He was clearly depressed. He unlocked the door, and poked his head out. Satisfied that no one was around he crept out. _

"_Wait. He will come back." Dream-Naru grabbed her hand as she tried to follow him. Sure enough the man returned with a rope and a chair. Mai looked at Dream-Naru, confused. Taking a deep breath the man tied one end of the rope to the beam. He tied the other end around his neck and steadied himself. Mai looked around, not wanting to watch, when her eyes fell on the boy looking confusedly at his father from around the corner. She gasped. _

_The chair fell with a thud, the boy ran away._

_The dream faded as Mai sobbed. Dream-Naru put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He closed her eyes._

Mai sat bolt upright, tears streaming down her face.

"Mai?" Ayako's concerned voice floated over. Mai turned to see Ayako, Madoka and Masako coming towards her. Ayako sat next to her and gave her a hug, while Madoka patted her head.

"It's alright Mai." She whispered, as the girl slowly stopped crying.

"I had another one. This time the man committed suicide. I guess he was depressed…" Ayako nodded and rubbed her back. Mai checked the time. 3 in the morning. Mai sighed. The others returned to bed, but Mai couldn't sleep. She got up and went to base, hoping to find Naru.

The room was quiet, except for Lin's constant typing. She sat down and looked at him, he had stopped typing to watch her. Eventually he spoke.

"Who are you?" Mai stared at Lin. It was very early, but even so…

"Mai. Lin are you feeling alright?"

"What do you mean by that? Explain!"

"You are acting strangely, not like your normal self, you see."

"I don't see."

"Um, I… I'm going to make some tea. Do you want some?" She started to leave.

"Come back! I've got something very important to say!" Mai turned. "Keep your temper."

"Uh, right." She said, gesturing to the door, and then fleeing. Mai knocked on Naru's door. No answer. She opened it and went in. Her eyes took a moment to adjust before she made her way to his bed.

"Naru! Naru wake up!" She said, prodding his shoulder. He mumbled something and turned over. "NARU!" She prodded him harder.

"Mai! Stop poking me!" She stopped. He was in a bad mood. "You better have a good reason for waking me up…" He glanced at his clock. "At half three." He growled.

"Lin's gone crazy! He forgot who I was!" Mai squeaked, hoping it was a good reason. Naru sighed but got up and they went to base.

"Taniyama-san? Why are you up this early? And Naru? I did say you could go to sleep." Lin glanced at the pair over his laptop.

"Mai, outside. Now."

-Sometime later-

At a decent time in the morning Mai finished telling the guys the dream. Naru was thinking deeply and as Lin finished typing.

"Is that it?" Naru checked. Mai nodded.

"So, both parents were dead? What happened to the house?" Monk asked. Quick as a flash Yasuhara whipped out a notebook and started flipping pages.

"The house passed onto the wife's sister and her family. There was one condition, that the son be treated as their own."

"What's in the other pages?" Ayako asked curious, seeing as Yasuhara was somewhere near the back of the notebook and the pages were covered in tiny writing.

"You probably don't want to know…" Yasuhara glanced at the other pages, grinning. Ayako gulped.

Naru brought out a file. He flipped through.

"The boy died some time later, of TB. The sister and her family moved out soon afterwards." He brought out a picture of the boy.

"He looks so young too." Monk said as the picture was passed around, and then returned to the file. Naru hid the file among other assorted files and carried on reading.

"Mai, tea."

"I'll come too, Mai-chan." Monk chimed and walked with her to the door. This time Naru didn't protest. Mai shouted at him in her head, but Monk dragged her out the door. _Great. I guess this time I just ignore him again…_ She was peeved. Monk nattered on about his band for a while before turning his attention to more serious matters. Namely Mai. And Naru. And Yasuhara.

"So, is Yasuhara's plan working?" He asked grinning.

"What plan? There was a plan? I knew he'd be up to something again…" Mai hadn't been paying attention, and the only words she heard where Yasuhara and plan.

"To get you and Naru together!"

"No. And it's really annoying me."

"Oh. Well, I think he's moving on…" Monk sounded a tad worried.

"Really? Who to?"

"Lin…"

"Lin and _who_?" Mai gaped.

"Madoka…"

"But the plan involves you." Mai was saved by the kettle whistling. She hurried back to base, thinking all the while. Before she could be roped into any wild schemes she placed the cup in front of Naru and quickly escaped to the garden. She found a path leading through the wood, and explored, pleased by the quiet and lack of scheming.

The path twisted and turned through undergrowth. After a while she got back to the garden, the path seemed to go in a loop. She was about to turn back, when she saw Wakasa sitting outside the house.

"Wakasa-san? Are you okay?" She hurried up, and stood in front of him. She was startled by the racket coming from the house. The whole building was shaking and from the inside it sounded like various pieces of furniture were moving around.

"I can't find my key." He said. "And I can't open the door from the outside, even though it's not locked."

"That's terrible." She went to the door and banged on it.

"There's no sort of use in banging on it, as there is so much noise no one could possibly hear you."

"How will we get in then?"

"There might be some sense in banging, if we had the door between us. For instance, if you were inside, you could knock, and I could let you out." Mai looked at him like he was going crazy.

"But that doesn't solve our problem. We can't get in!"

"I shall sit here, till tomorrow-" He started, but the door opened suddenly and a couple of books came flying out. She slipped in before the door closed and left it open for Wakasa. She wandered into the first room, and everything stopped moving and returned to its original place. She looked around and found Madoka sitting in a corner of the room, holding a small bundle, and Yasuhara next to her, grinning profusely.

"Why is he grinning like that?" She asked Madoka nervously.

"He's a Cheshire cat, and that's why."

"What?" Mai blinked.

"A Cheshire cat!" Mai decided it would be better not to reply to this, and felt a change of subject was called for, when Madoka did it herself.

"If everybody minded their own business the world would go round a great deal faster then it does." Mai stared. Madoka started to sing to the bundle. Mai looked at it and smiled.

"Here, you can look after it for a bit, if you like!" Madoka thrust the bundle into Mai's arms and left the room, muttering something about 'croquet'. Mai shook her head. _That didn't just happen. I must be dreaming…_ She unwrapped the bundle, only to find it was a doll with a pig's face. She put the doll down on a chair and left after Madoka but she was nowhere to be seen.

Mai spun round, only to come face to face with Yasuhara, still grinning.

"Yasu, where are the others?"

"It depends which people you want to meet."

"I don't mind really."

"Then it doesn't matter where you go."

"But I want to meet someone!"

"You're sure to do that, if only you walk around long enough."

"Seriously Yasu, this isn't funny. Where is everyone?"

"I already told you." With that he walked off, leaving a surprised Mai by herself. Out of pure habit she went to base.

"Mai, where were you? You've been gone for an hour." Monk looked up as she entered. Mai's brain was still in shock, and she didn't respond but sank into a couch gratefully.

"Are you okay?" John stared at her. Mai nodded, and told them what had happened. Naru held his chin in his hand.

"Where is Yasuhara?" Madoka asked.

"Madoka? You're here too?"

"Yes. I don't remember leaving base though. Or any of our conversation."

"I doubt he does either." Naru stated.

"But why would a ghost do this? It's not a revenge thing, it's not really looking for anything. What is its motive?" Madoka asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"I don't know, yet."

"What happens next in the story?" Mai asked.

"The Mad Hatter's tea party."

"What's that?"

"The Mad Hatter and the March Hare have a permanent tea party because in Wonderland it is always 6 o'clock. I already told you this yesterday. Even stupid people's memories work."

"My memory works fine!" Mai yelled.

"I wonder who will be the Mad Hatter and the March Hare?" Yasuhara said from the doorway. _When did he come?_

"Mai is clearly Alice. Madoka is the Duchess, John the Rabbit, Lin the caterpillar and Yasuhara the Cheshire cat. Hara-san seems to be the mouse from the very beginning, and I was the Dodo. But our roles were small, so Hara-san and myself may be more then one role. There is also Bou-san and Ayako."

"Lin was the caterpillar? When was that?" Monk cried. He wished he'd seen that.

"At approximately half past three in the morning." Naru said, glaring at Mai, who looked sheepish.

"None of us are really Mad Hatter or March Hare material. I bet Ayako will be the Queen of Hearts!" Yasuhara chimed, dodging Ayako's handbag.

"I am NOT the Queen!" She screeched. Monk chuckled.

"And you will be the King!" Yasuhara pointed at him, as he dodged another swing. Monk's chuckle instantly died. Naru turned his back on them, letting them place bets on who will be who.

* * *

**Yes, the story is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Yes, we have thought through the fact that the little boy won't know that story, but the solution will come later. All will become clear. **

**Thanks for the reviews, they cheer us up lots :) yes, we are sad like that. but o well... **

**Because we are moving this weekend, there won't be any chapters for a while. We have no idea how long it will take to move in (from experiance, it will be a few days)**

**And we came up with an idea why Lin types so much. We think he writes fanfiction.**


	27. 5 Childs Play part 5

Childs Play, Part 5

Tea Party!

Naru was sitting on the couch reading. The base was unusually quiet, but that was because he had sent everyone (except for Lin) on errands. Madoka popped her head round the door, instantly destroying the silence.

"Lin, come on, we need your help!" She beckoned Lin. He shot Naru an apologetic look. "It's alright if I steal Lin for a little bit, right?" She turned to Naru, who nodded, just wishing she would go away. Anyway, it could be dangerous not to let her have her way. Lin put on a helpless look and followed her out the door. Soon after Mai entered with tea. He held his hand out for the cup which made her huff. He loved annoying her.

"You _could _say please and thank you. It wouldn't kill you." She scowled at him as he peered at her over his book. Then he continued reading as though nothing had been said. His hand flicked, indicating that he still wanted his tea. Mai growled slightly, and thrust the tea into his hand.

"Oww." The boiling tea had sloshed onto her hand. Naru sighed. Now that Mai was back there was little chance of avoiding speaking. He put down the book and tea and looked at her hand. Silently he handed her a tissue and carried on reading, while sipping his tea.

"Where's Lin gone?" The base felt strange without the clatter of keys as Lin typed.

"Madoka took him." Mai smiled. So there actually was some reasoning behind Yasuhara's latest plan. She thought he was just stuck for couples so putting anyone with anyone. She jumped onto the couch next to him. There was no one else in base. She took a deep breath.

"Naru…?"

"Yes?" He said, not really paying attention.

"Um…"

"Yes?"

"Actually it's not important." Naru glanced at her. _Not this again…_ Naru put down the book.

"Mai, what is it?"

"Well, when you made me promise not to refuse to wake up from a dream, why did you?" Suddenly the table was very interesting to Naru.

"Someone I knew did that, and they almost died." He said quietly. Mai gaped.

"Was it your brother?" Naru continued to study the table. He gave a single nod. Mai decided it would be better not to continue the conversation, he was clearly upset.

"I'm sorry." She said and patted his shoulder awkwardly. He picked up his book, but wasn't reading as his eyes didn't move. Mai sighed and went to get more tea. She felt bad for bringing up the brother, especially if Naru became sad. She wondered if he died recently.

She brought back the tea, but Naru had left the base. _He probably wanted some time alone. _She put the tea down on the desk and went to find someone else. She wandered through the large house, but no one seemed to be around. She paused outside the dining room. Her hand opened the door of its own accord.

Naru and Masako were sitting at the table drinking tea. In between them someone was curled up and sleeping, and they leaned on it while drinking and talking. Masako looked up and scowled.

"No room! No room!" She cried. Mai frowned; there was no way she was going to leave Masako alone with Naru. Not to mention that there were several places set.

"But there's lot's of room!" Mai retorted, sitting down next to Naru.

"Have some wine." Masako said. Mai looked around.

"I can't see any wine." She said confused.

"That's because there isn't any!"

"It's very rude of you to offer it then." Mai frowned.

"It's very rude to sit down without being invited." Masako shot back, before looking away and crossing her arms.

"But it isn't your table. Anyway, if there are only three of you, and one's asleep, what's the point of laying more places?"

"Your hair wants cutting." Naru had been watching her curiously.

"Actually I quite like it this length."

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" He replied.

"Er, what?"

"Do you know the answer?"

"I guess I can work it out…"

"Do you mean to say that you think you can find out the answer to it?"

"Yes…"

"Then you should say what you mean."

"Eh? I do! At least, I mean what I say. Which is the same."

"Not the same a bit! You might as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!"

"You might as well say," Added Masako, who seemed quite happy to join in telling off Mai, "that "I like what I get" is the same as "I get what I like"!"

"You might as well say that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same as "I sleep when I breathe"!" The sleeping person joined in, apparently still in its slumber. Mai stared, that voice…

"It is the same thing with you." Naru pointed out. After this no one said anything for a while, each left to their own thoughts. Mai was puzzling over how a raven and a writing desk could be similar when Naru broke the silence.

"What day of the month is it?" Mai started. _Wait, Naru is asking me what day of the month it is? _Then she stared even more as he pulled out of his inside pocket a watch, which he looked at strangely and started shaking it.

"The fourth"

"Two days wrong! I _told _you butter wouldn't suit the works!" Naru turned on Masako.

"It was the best butter," Masako said meekly.

"Some crumbs must have got in with the butter. You shouldn't have put it in with the bread knife." Naru complained. Masako didn't reply, but took the watch and dipped it in her tea mumbling something about butter.

"The watch…it tells the day of the month!" Mai cried. This was definitely unexpected.

"Does your watch tell you what year it is?" Masako asked.

"No! It stays the same year for ages, why would I need a watch to tell me?"

"Which is just the case with mine." Naru said matter-of-factly. Mai was confused.

"I don't understand…" she muttered.

"It's asleep again." Naru said and poured some tea on the sleeping person. It shook its head. _Wait a minute…_ Mai stared at, well, herself.

"Just what I was going to say…" the Other Mai muttered without opening its eyes.

"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" Naru turned back to Mai impatiently.

"I give up. What's the answer?"

"I don't know."

"Nor I" put in Masako. "I'm getting tired of this. I vote she tells us a story."

"Err, I don't know any" Mai lied, wanting to escape.

"Then the Doormouse shall!" They both said, and started prodding Other Mai. It woke up and started to tell a story about three sisters who lived in a well, but Mai wasn't really listening.

"…And they drew everything that started with 'M'-"

"Why M?" Mai asked.

"Why not?" Masako asked sweetly.

"-Such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and muchness. Did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of muchness?"

"I don't think-" Mai began.

"Then you shouldn't talk." Naru interrupted. Mai huffed, enough was enough. She stood up and left, making her way back to base. She drank the tea she had left for Naru to calm her down.

"Mai? Are you alright?" John asked.

"She's drinking Naru's tea." Ayako commented. Mai blushed. _Naru's tea? Naru drank from this cup? No, this is the one I left him…_ She started to tell them about the "tea party".

"Aha! You owe me 2,000 Yen!" Monk cried happily, pointing at Ayako.

Lin glanced at the monitors. He told the others to look and pointed at one. Everyone gathered round…

Naru opened his eyes. _Where am I?_ He looked around. He was in the dining room, sitting by the table, but there was such a mess on it. In front of him was a tea cup. He sipped the tea, trying to remember how he got there. It was horrible; he put the cup down hurriedly. The last thing he remembered was talking to Mai, and her going to get more tea…

Next to him someone stood up. Masako. _What the-? _Something in his brain clicked. _We were the Mad Hatter and March Hare. _He groaned. That was… surprising. He had not expected that.

"Naru, what are we doing here?" He glared at her.

"It would appear we were at the tea party." He stood up and dusted himself off before moving towards the door.

"Naru, I feel faint…" Masako held his arm. Naru gritted his teeth. Suddenly she collapsed onto him.

"Why that little-!" Mai frowned at Masako on the screen. Monk restrained her from damaging the innocent monitor.

They watched as Naru put Masako on the floor, then waited for her to wake up. As soon as her eyelids fluttered he strode back to base.

"What are you doing?" A cold voice spoke from behind them. They all jumped (minus Lin) and turned around.

"Uh, nothing. Just checking the monitors…" Monk trailed off as the miko jabbed him with her elbow.

"Shut up!" She muttered.

"What happened?" Naru asked, focusing on Mai. She proceeded to tell the whole story.

"Only the croquet game is left, and then this farce is over." Naru muttered. "Mai, tea." He sat down and proceeded to think.

* * *

_I was lying in the boy's bedroom on the bed. Suddenly I convulsed as violent coughs racked my body. _

"_Water…" I croaked, my throat felt like it had been scraped with nails. Someone handed me a glass which I sipped from, but even that hurt. The person took back the glass and held my hand. I turned my head._

"_Taisha…" I whispered. The servant from before nodded and squeezed my hand. "Am I… going… to… die?"_

"_No, no. The doctor said you'll be fine." But her face was contorted in worry. I nodded. It was kind of her to try to cheer me up, but I wasn't stupid. _

"_You're… a bad… liar" I smiled at her, to show I wasn't insulting her. I curled up as I coughed harder then before. I held out my hand. Blood stained it a brilliant red. I knew I was going to die. Taisha gently wiped my hand. I closed my eyes…_

"_A couple of days at most." A man spoke. _

"_Is that all?" A woman, my Aunt. She sounded upset._

"_I'm afraid so." The man again. The door opened and shut. I opened my eyes. Taisha had gone, and now my Aunt was sitting by me. _

"_Aunty" I smiled at her. She hugged me. _

"_Why…wouldn't you… play… with me?" Speaking was getting more and more painful as the days went by. My chest ached and my throat was on fire. _

_She sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I couldn't, you look so much like her…" She smoothed my hair away from my face. "I thought that, with time… but we don't have any time." I nodded._

"_How many… days?" I asked. She hesitated, not sure whether I wanted a lie or the truth._

"_Two…" Her voice cracked. A sense of relief washed through me. Just two more days, and then the pain is over. _

"_Water…" My glass was empty, so she went to go and get more. I closed my eyes._

_My eyes flew open as the coughing started. It hurt so much. Why won't it go away? I started crying: it was too much for me. I just wanted it to end. Taisha wiped my tears while Aunty squeezed my hand comfortingly. I coughed again. _

"_Cold…" I shivered. My aunt and Taisha exchanged looks. They kissed my forehead as a numbness spread through my body, but instead of dulling the pain it hurt even more, as though my senses had suddenly started working so much better. I started crying again. My aunt moved forward and hugged me, whispering something into my ear. I couldn't breath. I gritted my teeth, and relaxed as the pain flooded out of me. _

* * *

**At last we have internet! sorry we havn't updated for like 5 days, and unfortunatly, we are going camping this friday (again! we don't need to go camping so much! All we ever do is go to the beach! the last beach was mud!) for like 4 days. But while we had no internet we wrote like 7 chapters, so we will be updating a lot.**

**Thanks to poakkis for reviewing, and all you readers!**


	28. 5 Childs Play part 6

Child's Play, Part 6

IFO's

Mai opened her eyes slowly. Sunlight streamed through the open window, making her wince. Something dropped from her chin onto her neck. Water.

She sat up and felt her face. Wet paths marked where the tears had fallen. She looked around blearily, not seeing much through her tears. A pale shape detached itself from the wall and moved closer.

"Argh!" She shrieked and dived underneath the covers. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Mai, I would expect even _you_ to be able to tell the difference between your boss and a monster." Mai groaned and reappeared.

"Well, to be fair in your case there doesn't seem to be much difference…" Yasuhara had popped his head round the door and was taking in the scene. Naru sent a death glare his way and Yasuhara hastily removed himself.

"He has got a point." Mai muttered. Naru re-directed his death glare at her. She shrank. Naru sat next to the bed and pulled out a notepad and pen from an inside pocket of his jacket, then looked at her expectantly.

"Um, I was the little boy this time. He was in his bedroom, and he was ill. The servant was with him. She was called Taisha. Then it fast forwarded and the doctor was there. The Aunt came and apologised for not playing with him, and then it fast forwarded to when he died…" Tears formed in her eyes. "It hurt so much…" Naru was (yet again) at a loss how to comfort her (you'd have thought he would've learnt by now…).

"Mai, it's alright. There's nothing you could have done." He tried. She nodded.

"That's what you always say."

"What?"

"Oh, er, nothing…" She had stopped crying but had turned so red she was giving a tomato a run for its money.

"Mai" He said warningly, but there was no way she was going to tell him she dreamed about him.

"Don't you want some tea? It's been ages since I last made you some." Mai jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen before Naru had time to react. He stood up and went to base, waiting for her to return.

"Is she up?" Monk asked immediately. Naru nodded, deep in thought.

"What did she dream?" Madoka asked, but he was on a planet of his own. They glanced at each other. Monk shrugged. Yasuhara bounced in next and of course started to tell them everything, earning several laughs. Next came Mai, carrying the tea. She deposited it on his desk and waited for a thank you.

"Next time I'm not making any more tea until you say please!" She said angrily, bringing Naru out of his reverie.

"Whatever." He sipped his tea and ignored her. Steam practically came out of Mai's ears. She ran out while Madoka shouted at him. Monk and Ayako ran out after her. She sprinted into the garden, trying to stop tears that threatened to spill. She turned around as everyone came out of the house, Monk and Ayako taking the lead. She didn't want to talk to them.

She made her way to the other part of the garden where the children where painting the plants red.

"What are you doing? Stop, the plants shouldn't be painted!" She called out. They looked up, past her and ran away. She spun on the spot. Now was really _not _the time. Everyone had stopped just in front of her.

"What is this?" Ayako asked Monk, pointing a stick at her nose.

"A human child…" He eyed the stick nervously.

"A human child. Well. Tell me, child, do you know how to play croquet?"

"No!"

"No matter." Ayako thrust a mallet into her arms. Mai stared at it. _What the-? _Everyone had a similar mallet, which they were using to hit little balls round the garden. Ayako seemed to be running round knocking everyone's balls away, but apart from that there was no order to the chaos. Most people where running away from her, and into each other. The only people playing what Mai assumed was properly where Naru and Lin, who were expertly hitting their balls through hoops.

Mai grabbed the mallet and walked away, into the house. She made her way to the kitchen, where she made herself a cup of tea. Before she could drink it an irate Ayako stormed into the kitchen followed closely by an apologetic Monk. The door banging on the wall made Mai drop the cup.

"Did I tell you to drink tea? PLAY!" Ayako screamed at her.

"NO! I won't!" Mai crossed her arms.

"Why won't people play with me? What did I do?" Ayako broke down as the rest of SPR rushed into the room.

"What's your name?" Mai looked up into Ayako's tear streaked face. But Ayako collapsed.

She had landed on Monk. "How does she weigh so much?" He immediately complained.

"I weigh barely anything! You're just weak!" Ayako jumped away from him and kicked his shin.

"Maybe you should try eating less!" That earned another well aimed kick. "How does she hit the same spot twice?" Monk grabbed his leg.

"I've had a lot of practice!" Ayako dusted herself off.

"Most of it on me!"Muttered Monk.

"You ask for it."

"How do I ask for it?"

SPR left them arguing and retreated to the room next door, mostly to stop a headache. Well, 7 headaches.

"Mai what happened?" Naru turned on her. "I believe I said to play along. Or do you not understand Japanese?" Mai was not in a good mood. Yasuhara and John started edging towards the door.

"For your information I speak Japanese perfectly. And maybe next time the ghost should pick a better time! Maybe he should consider other people's feelings instead of just his!"

Just then the house started shaking and rapping noises began. Everyone looked up.

"I think you made him angry…" Madoka rushed to the door. Which slammed shut in her face. She grabbed the door and yanked, but it wouldn't move.

"This way!" Mai had the door on the opposite side of the room in her hand. Naru and Lin where the first people to move and they started to go through it, when the door slammed shut onto Naru. He gasped. The door bounced back slightly and he fell onto one side, then it slammed shut behind him.

"Naru, are you okay?"Lin asked through the door as Mai's large worried eyes looked into his.

"Yes." He grabbed her wrist and dragged her down the corridor, as objects started flying around them.

"Ow, Naru let go!" He relaxed his grip slightly. As he looked around a vase flew towards Mai. Without thinking he pulled her to the floor while ducking. The vase flew overhead and smashed against the wall.

"Next time, when I tell you to do something, do it!" He scolded, knowing full well that she probably wouldn't. Mai nodded and he pulled her up. They turned around, and froze. In front of them stood a little boy, grinning evilly. He was wearing the same clothes he died in, and little speckles of blood covered them. Mai shrank into Naru's side.

"I only wanted to play with you." The boy said reproachfully. "But seeing as you wouldn't…" He grinned wider and the table the vase had been on flew towards them. Mai instinctively stepped backwards, while Naru focused. Mai panicked as the table got ever closer, but she couldn't make herself move. She closed her eyes, bracing for impact.

She opened one eye, and found herself face to face with a table.

"Move, baka." Mai scuttled to the other side of Naru. The table carried on flying forwards until it smashed on the wall. The little boy scowled, but before he could do anything 5 white orbs came from nowhere and swirled around the boy. He eyed them nervously. 2 attacked at once, he dodged one while the other pierced his arm. He cried out.

"Lin! Stop! You're hurting him!" Mai ran back to the door she had come out of.

"Mai!" Naru sprinted after her. He pushed her to the ground as another vase from somewhere in the building sailed over her head. It did a u-turn in the air and made for Mai, but hit Naru, who was covering her.

Lin's shiki attacked again, and the door flew open, as did the door to the kitchen. Monk stepped out chanting, followed by Ayako, who made her way towards Mai and Naru.

"Lin, please stop." Mai's voice was somewhat muffled. Naru groaned and clamped a hand over her mouth. The shiki hesitated. The boy smiled again, and the wall collapsed. He disappeared and the shiki split up and moved away from the corridor.

"Are you okay?" Madoka called. Lin, John and Yasuhara moved forward and started shifting bits of the ex-wall.

"We're fine!" Monk and Ayako crawled out from underneath one end.

"I tin'..ru's faint…" Mai's voice was faint and muffled but they could just about hear it.

"I have not fainted" Naru sounded offended. "Stop licking me." Yasuhara laughed slightly, while Lin raised his eyebrows.

"Y..'ve oved you…nd!" Everyone shared glances.

"You could have not said anything." Naru reasoned. The reply was too muffled to make out. Naru chuckled slightly. SPR stared at the bump in the wall that was Naru and Mai. Suddenly Mai's angry voice filled the air.

"-and you could try to be a _little _bit nicer next time! My wrist really hurts now! And I am _not_-" Naru covered her mouth again.

"Shut up." The wall shifted and Naru's hand grabbed the edge of one the pieces and pushed it away. There was a piercing scream from upstairs.

"Seems Lin-san's shiki found him…" Monk murmured. Lin, Madoka, John, Masako, Monk, Ayako and Yasuhara ran towards the stairs, while Mai and Naru both tried to get through the hole at the same time. Naru let her go first, then climbed out. His breath caught as pain laced through his back.

"Naru?" Mai turned around.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not! The vase hit you!" Mai blushed slightly. Naru gritted his teeth. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Let me see." She ordered. Naru walked past her in the direction of the stairs.

"Naru…"

"I'm fine." Mai hesitated, but ran after him.

* * *

The others made it to the top of the stairs, following Lin. They found him in a room with the shiki still swirling around him, attacking when he tried to move.

"John!" John nodded and stepped forward. He took out a small flask of holy water and a tiny bible from his pockets.

"What's that?" Ayako pointed at the suspiciously small book.

"Pocket sized edition. I carry it everywhere." He explained, before opening it at the beginning and reciting. The ghost screamed again as a couple of shiki pierced his feet. John splashed the ghost and finished.

"In principio." He shut the book. The ghost faded away. Naru and Mai appeared in the doorway.

"You guys missed it." Monk said, as Lin's shiki disappeared.

"He's gone." Masako confirmed. Naru nodded, and they all moved back to base. Madoka stopped him.

"Aren't you going to say thanks?" Naru sighed.

"Madoka I don't mind. Honestly." John smiled kindly at her. Naru didn't say anything, but turned away from Madoka and stalked back to base.

Wakasa and Ikue were waiting for them there. They stood up as SPR entered.

"The ghost is gone." Naru said. They sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much!"

"However a couple of vases, a table and a section of your wall are broken." They looked at each other, and hurried away to inspect the damage. Naru ordered everyone to go and collect cameras.

"Mai, I'm pretty sure I asked you to go and collect the camera in the corridor. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No, I understood." Naru returned to disconnecting the monitors. She didn't move. A couple of minutes later Naru looked up and glared at her.

"Well?"

"Anyway, it was more like ordering."

"What do you want Mai?"

"To look at your back. A _vase _hit you remember?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I won't make any more tea." Mai remembered the last time that had worked. Naru gritted his teeth.

"Fine." Mai grinned. _Mai: 2, Naru: um…lots._ She grabbed the first aid kit. Lin smiled slightly and wandered over as Mai rolled up the back of his shirt (and of course blushed).

* * *

**The end of this case. Anything not explained will be at a stater lage... Sorry for the wait again, but after all the house is still in boxes so internet wasn't really our priority ^-^ don't be mad :( btw an IFO is the opposite of a UFO - its identified :D**


	29. 6 Fears & Desires part 1

Fears and Desires, Part 1

"Try Me"

Mai groaned and hit her head against the desk. She stretched her arm out in search for her rubber, and looked up when she couldn't find it.

"Looking for something?" An amused Naru stood in the doorway to his office, holding out her rubber.

"You stole it!" She spun round and accused. One black eyebrow was raised.

"I can assure you, I have no need of what remains of your rubber." She looked at the rubber. He was right (of course), there wasn't very much left. He put it down on the end of her desk and glanced at her homework.

"There's this maths problem that I just can't work out!" She glared at the piece of paper. Naru spun it round and glanced over it. He closed his eyes for a second.

"7.25 or minus 3.5" She gaped.

"How did you…?"

"Work it out, baka." He moved back to his office. "Oh, and tea." He glanced at her over his shoulder, then shut the door. She scowled at the wall, then got up and made tea. Crossing the office she glanced at her desk, then grabbed another piece of paper, the pencil and the problem.

"Explain." She said, after putting the tea on his desk and the paper in front of him. He glared at her, but it seemed to have no effect, she still stood there expectantly. He was slightly worried that his glare wasn't working, but brushed it off, focusing on the problem at hand.

* * *

There was a timid knock on the door of Lin's office. He got up to answer the door, trying to work out who was on the other side. Mai's knocks were usually more confident, and Naru never knocked. He opened the door to find a small, scared man on the other side.

"Is this Shibuya Psychic Research? I did wait for a while, but no one seemed to be there so…" Lin nodded.

"I'm sorry, Taniyama-san should have been there. Please take a seat." He looked round for Mai, but could see her nowhere. He checked the kitchen, but it was empty. Which left Naru's office.

He hesitated before knocking and opening the door.

"Wait a minute, write it down." Mai sounded confused. Naru sighed. After explaining the problem, and checking the rest of her homework, he had moved onto explaining calculus and then the formula for working out the area under curves. The most surprising thing being that when he explained it she understood. Most bits anyway. Well, he knew she wasn't stupid; he just acted like she was…

Lin cleared his throat, and they both looked up.

"There's a client waiting." He explained, glancing between the two. Well, it wasn't quite what he had expected, but at least he hadn't walked in on them doing anything. Mai blushed.

"Mai, tea." Naru glanced at the untouched cup on his desk. By now it was undrinkable. Mai ran away to the kitchen as Naru sat down on the chair opposite the man.

"My name is Shirokawa Ryuu, and I live in a village just outside Tokyo. The villagers took a raffle and I was the person whose name came out, so here I am. A friend of a friend of someone in the village recommended you… Anyway, we have a ghost problem."

"Could you describe any goings on?" Mai set two cups on the table and sat in the chair next to Naru's.

"Er, people's biggest fears seem to always come true. For example, one of the women in the village's biggest fear is of fire, and her house burned down. The strange thing is that the house had another family living in part of it, but only the part she lived in was burnt, and the other part was untouched. The fire brigade said they could find no reason for the fire starting, and the woman when asked said she was reading, when suddenly the table in the room caught fire. Like spontaneous combustion!"

"Anything else?"

"Well, there are lots of similar stories. Another thing is sometimes people's wants come true as well. Like one family had a son in the army, and there was an explosion which killed all of the other men in his regiment, but he survived. He was the only one. And the little girl said that all she wanted was for her brother to come back, safe."

Mai glanced at Naru. He seemed to be thinking about it. There was a slight gleam in his eye which meant he would probably take the case.

"We will take your case. Leave contact details with my assistant and we will be there for Friday." Naru stood up, taking his tea with him. The man left and Mai called everyone.

2 days later the Mai, Lin and Naru closed the office and set off. Lin was driving and Naru was reading yet another book, so Mai dug in her bag for her present from Monk. Holding the device to her mouth, she pressed a button, and after the beep spoke.

"Bou-san, come in Bou-san. Do you read me?" Naru glanced at her from the corner of his eye. _Where did she get a walkie-talkie from?_

"We read you Mai-chan!" A chorus of voices came back. Naru glared at the device, which looked so innocent, and yet was so annoying when in the wrong hands i.e. Mai's and Monk's.

"Where are you?" She asked.

"Just waiting for Ayako to come. She broke another nail…You'd have thought she could just make them shorter, but she insisted she had to redo _all _of them…" There was a strange noise followed by an 'oww' and Yasuhara's laughter.

"Hello, Mai!" Ayako cooed into the walkie-talkie. Naru's eye started to twitch.

"Did you hit him again?" Mai tutted.

"Mai, don't stop them. They're just trying to show their love…" Yasuhara called. He yelped as two thumps were heard.

"So what's happening your end?" John tried to change the subject.

"Not much. Naru is reading as per usual and Lin is driving. So no one is talking. Lin I can understand, he's concentrating on not damaging the equipment, but Naru-"

"Is trying to concentrate on his book, and would appreciate it if this childish nonsense stopped immediately." Naru had stolen the walkie-talkie and they could hear Mai struggling with him as she tried to get it back.

"Naru! Give it back!"

"No"

"Why not?"

"I'm trying to read and you're distracting me."

"You could just tell her." Yasuhara chimed.

"Tell me what?" Mai asked, curious.

"He's trying to say that he loves you, but he's not perfected his technique yet." Mai blushed and stared at the walkie-talkie as Naru switched it off and put it in his pocket, then returned to his book. In Monk's car everyone laughed, except for Masako. In the van Lin smiled slightly, while looking in the mirror so Naru wouldn't notice. Well, that was the plan anyway, but Naru has sharp eyes. He frowned.

Mai pondered for a bit. How was she going to get her walkie-talkie back? Otherwise she would die of boredom by the end of the trip. She sighed. Maybe she should try to find out more about Naru.

"Um, Naru, what's your favourite food?" Naru didn't answer. "Naru?"

He opened his window and took out the walkie-talkie. "Unless you want this walkie-talkie to be thrown out the window I suggest you keep quiet."

"You wouldn't!" she said nervously.

"Try me."

"Fine then, after this case I'll quit if you throw it out." Mai seriously hoped Monk was right. Naru raised his eyebrow.

"You wouldn't." He was pretty confident she wouldn't even if he did throw it out.

"Try me." She sounded smug.

"Fine." He threw it out the window.

"You, you-!"

"Even someone with your number of brain cells should know more then one word." He calmly closed the window and returned to his book. Mai was speechless.

"I guess this is our last case together." Naru smirked. There was no way she was leaving.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, while Mai fumed and grumbled in her seat, while trying to find a comfy position to sleep in that was as far away as possible from him. Alas, there were none, and she had to sit the rest of the way.

They arrived in the village and parked on the road outside the general store. Mai couldn't wait to get out, but Naru seemed to be taking his time just to aggravate her. _From now on, I'm always sitting next to the window _she thought as she prodded his back to get him to move faster.

"Naru-chan! Mai-chan!" Monk called, and swept her into a bear hug.

"Bou-san, you're hurting me!" She cried as a bone clicked.

"Oh, sorry." He gently put her down. Ayako pulled her into a hug as well, while glaring at Monk, as if to say 'this is how it's done'.

"Um, hello?" Ryuu had appeared with a small crowd behind him. A small child squeaked as he stood on Lin's foot.

"Gommensai, Shibuya-san."

"Actually this is Shibuya-san, Daisuke-kun." Ryuu gestured towards Naru.

"Gommensai, Shibuya-san." The little boy bowed to Naru.

"Would you like a tour?" Ryuu asked Naru, who nodded, so the whole of SPR and the villagers set off.

"This is the house that burnt down…" Ryuu pointed out to them all the houses where something had happened, which seemed to be most of them, as well as a couple of shops where they could buy some stuff if they wanted to. Eventually he stopped outside a small inn. "We have accommodation for you here. This is also where we thought your base would be." He led the way inside and handed them over to the woman behind the counter.

"This is the room for the women, and this is the room for the men. This is your base." The woman said, showing them to the rooms. Lin drove the van to the small car park by the inn, and they all started to set up equipment. There weren't enough camera's to go everywhere, so they set them up in the inn and outside, covering most of the village. Naru set about interviewing the villagers, and there was a queue outside the base of villagers waiting to be questioned.

"….And then a lot of spiders came to live in the house. They were really big and scary!" A young villager finished. Monk was writing down all the things. He had two pieces of paper, one titled 'wants' while the other was titled 'fears'. He wrote down spiders on the long list on the fears page. Mai read the list over his shoulder. Most were understandable, like spiders, bugs, fire, disease, rejection, the dark, death…but there were a few which seemed silly. One villager had a fear of creaking doors, and all the doors turned squeaky in the night. She read the list of wants. Most were to do with love or money. A few were for a relative to recover from a sickness, or to be smarter, or more beautiful.

"…I had colour blindness, but one day I realised that I could see colour again!" Colour blindness went on the wants page.

"…I couldn't get pregnant, but now I'm 4 months pregnant!" A rather proud pregnant villager declared.

"Congratulations!" Mai said enthusiastically. The woman smiled and nodded. Pregnancy went on the wants list.

"…I've been scared of bathtubs ever since I was little, and I always have a shower, but one day my shower broke down and I had to have a bath instead." Bathtubs went onto the fears page.

When all the villagers had been interviewed, Monk put down his pen and sighed. The papers were crowded.

"There are so many!"

"Some are not necessarily the ghost." Said Naru, who had picked up the pieces of paper and was carefully reading the lists.

"I'm tired. Can we go to bed?"

"Mai, tea. Everyone else can go."

After Mai brought the tea she went to bed too, leaving Naru and Lin in base working.

* * *

**TA-DAH the next chapter! And no, we're not going to be _so_ unoriginal that Naru and Mai just start snogging because they fancy each other. Naru hasn't even sassed it out yet. But don't worry, he will. All in good time my friends. No, we have something slightly different planned. All is not as it seems...**


	30. 6 Fears & Desires part 2

Fears and Desires, Part 2

Creepy-Crawleys

"_Naru?" Mai smiled at Dream Naru. He grinned back._

"_It's been a while." He said._

"_But I see you every day!"_

"_Not in dream form."_

"_That's true… What are you showing me today?" Dream Naru sighed, but otherwise didn't answer. He turned around, and Mai followed suit. _

_They were in an alleyway between houses, in what seemed like this village. She rounded the corner, and before her were a group of men._

"_And then we-" _

"_Er, boss!" A man gestured towards the woman, who was walking past. They all stood up and walked behind her. The woman half turned and squeaked in fear. When she turned back the leader was in front of her, holding a knife._

"_What did you hear?" He hissed. _

"_N-nothing." Her voice faltered. _

"_Are you sure?" He said menacingly. _

"_Y-y-yes." The poor woman was terrified. _

"_You won't go to the police about this. Or. Else." The woman nodded, staring at the knife. The man moved to the side and let her pass. He looked at a couple of the men._

"_Follow her, make sure she does as she's told." The men nodded, and detached themselves from the group. The dream faded._

"_Is that it? Naru's not going to be happy when I wake up." She muttered. Dream Naru looked at her. _Has she realised…?

"_Mai, it's time to wake up." _

"Mai, Naru's gonna be mad when he sees you sleeping on the job. Come on, wake up." Monk's earnest face looked down at hers. She opened her eyes.

"I'm not mad." Naru said, making them both jump. Monk spun round. He was leaning on the door frame.

"How long have you been there?"

"About 3 minutes."

"Why is he such a ninja?" Monk whispered to Mai loudly. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?" Naru got straight to work. Mai explained the dream. Naru assumed his normal thinking pose.

"Was the dream from the woman's or the men's point of view?"

"The woman's."

"So we can safely assume this is her history. I wonder where the group of men come into her death…"

Yasuhara bounced into the room with everyone behind him.

"I have made a list of what everyone wants! So we know what the ghost should do…" Yasuhara grinned and pinned the list on the wall. Monk went and stared at it.

"It says, Mai wants Naru, Naru wants Mai, I want…Ayako? No I don't!" Monk protested.

"And I definitely don't want him!" Ayako hit Yasuhara on the head.

"Yes you do. The list says so." Yasuhara stepped away from the raging miko.

"Masako also wants Naru and Lin wants to be a little shorter so he doesn't have to duck all the time and Madoka. You've left out John." Mai finished reading the list.

"I wasn't sure what John wanted. Anyway he's a priest so he isn't allowed to fall in love." Yasuhara scowled.

"What do you want then?" Monk prodded Yasuhara.

"That's a secret." He tapped his nose.

"If you've finished fooling around there is still work to be done. Yasuhara and John, go and find the local records and research. Ayako and Hara-san, wander around and see if you feel anything. Bou-san, go and check the camera on the main street, it seems to have stopped transmitting." They nodded and left.

"What about me?" Mai asked.

"Tea." Mai nodded and left. Naru sat down, and stood up. He paced the room. _Why do I feel so nervous? I don't like Mai going around on her own, but I'm not normally so jumpy. Oliver, get a grip on yourself. Nothing is going to happen. But what if something does and I can't stop it? She's just gone to the kitchen!_ In the meantime he had sat down and stood twice more. Lin had stopped typing to watch him. Finally, unable to shake of the feeling of dread, Naru followed Mai.

He walked along the lengths of corridor, but was unable to find the kitchen. _It's like a maze. It didn't look that complicated when we were being shown our rooms._ He walked round the same corner for the fourth time, and bumped into something. Something which clattered and smashed when it fell over.

"Ow. Naru, you could look where you're going!" Mai's angry voice drifted up to him. He looked down as relief flooded through him.

"Sorry." He said, surprising himself and Mai.

"Er, it's okay." He held out his hand and pulled her up.

"The tea…" Mai bent down to pick up the shards of ceramic, cutting herself in the process. She frowned and sucked her finger.

"Don't do that, there are millions of germs in your mouth." Naru knew the chances of getting an infection where tiny, but he didn't want to run the risk.

"But I don't want to get blood on everything." Naru tugged a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to her, then bent down to collect the remaining pieces of cup.

"Where is the kitchen?" He asked.

* * *

Ayako and Masako wandered down the street.

"There's no presence here either." Masako stated, hoping to get some reaction out of the silent Ayako. Normally she wouldn't shut up, but today she seemed to be lost in her own world.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm just worried…" Masako frowned. So it wasn't just her. She had this strange feeling inside that something was going to go very wrong.

"You feel it too?" Masako asked. Ayako nodded. Suddenly she screamed.

Monk looked up as he heard a scream. _Ayako! _He had a bad feeling about this case, and he really didn't want Ayako to get hurt, despite the fact that she seemed determined to get him as bruised as possible.

He ran in the direction it had come from. _Surely nothing too bad can have happened, it's only the second day, and she's with Masako, and she knows how to defend herself._ He skidded round a corner.

And gasped. Ayako was frozen in place as thousands of bugs of every kind poured out of a drain in the middle of the street. They were all heading straight towards her. Masako was desperately tugging on her sleeve.

"Masako, go!" Monk called, sprinting towards the pair. Masako nodded and ran as fast as she could (in a kimono. We don't actually know how limiting they are, but we're guessing very). Monk got to Ayako as the bugs advanced, they were about half way down the street.

"Come on, Ayako move, please!" Monk pulled her.

"B-b-bug-gss" she whispered, staring at them as they came ever closer. And quickly too. Monk cursed and picked her up, jogging back up the street.

"Bou-san! PUT ME DOWN!" Ayako screamed at him. He looked back, there was no way he could out run the bugs while carrying her. He gently put her down, grabbed her hand and sprinted, dragging her along.

"I can't…slow down!" She gasped out, before tripping over her own feet bringing them both down. She cried out as her ankle stung.

"Come on Ayako." He pulled her up, but when she put her weight on her ankle she collapsed. The bugs were almost at them. Monk swore, then sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. As he rocked her back and forth he could see people watching, terrified, from their houses. The bugs stopped mere millimetres away from them.

One spider crawled onto Ayako's foot, and she screamed again. Monk pulled her closer to him, and buried his face in her hair. _This is it…_ She whimpered as the spider climbed up her leg. He unwrapped an arm.

"Ayako, I…" He whispered into her hair.

"Don't leave me, please!" She sobbed, thinking he was letting go to move away.

"Shhh, it's alright. I won't." He flicked the spider off and returned his arm. Ayako smiled. This time a woodlouse escaped the multitude and made its way towards them, as did another bug, and another bug. Ayako glanced over her shoulder and whimpered.

* * *

Naru looked up from sipping his tea as Yasuhara sprinted into the building, shouting his name. Normally Yasuhara wouldn't go to him, something must have happened. He stood up, as did Lin and Mai and they ran to the entrance hall of the inn.

"Naru, Monk and Ayako, they're in the street where we parked, and there's…there's thousands of bugs! Attacking them!" He reeled off like a mad man. Mai paled, she knew Ayako was terrified of bugs.

"Her fear…" She whispered. Naru glanced at her and nodded, they all ran out of the building. They ran through the streets, attracting a little crowd behind them. The turned the corner. Mai paled even more as she saw how many creepy-crawlies where on the street, surrounding Monk and Ayako. She moved closer to Naru, horrified. They watched as Monk reached out and flicked something off her leg.

Naru glanced at Lin.

"There's one stopping the bugs from getting any closer." Naru nodded and focused. The woodlouse and millipede that had just lurched forwards flew into the air. He moved the bugs around, creating a clear path.

"Bou-san, Ayako, go down the path!" Mai called. Monk raised his head and looked over his shoulder.

"Right…" Gently he detached himself and helped her up. Ayako stumbled a bit as she had her eyes closed. Monk sighed and picked her up, carrying her through the bugs. She cringed with every step. Naru shut his eyes, and the bugs dispersed.

"Thank you…" A woman's voice whispered. Mai started.

"Naru, she was the one…" Naru nodded, Lin was already inspecting Ayako's ankle while John and Masako hurried towards them, fighting their way through the throng of spectators.

"Is she okay?" Ryuu asked.

"Yes, she's in shock and has a twisted ankle, but apart from that she's fine" Lin answered. Monk and John supported her as the group made their way back to base.

* * *

**Awwww, Ayako and Monk :D:D:D they're so sweet. **

**Damn, sometimes I wish i had Naru's pk powers ^^ **


	31. 6 Fears & Desires part 3

Fears and Desires, Part 3

Mirror Surfaces and Exploding Kettles

Ayako sat in base with Mai next to her and a steaming cup of tea in her hands. Mai got up and walked over to where Naru was sitting.

"What would the bugs have done?" she asked him.

"I don't know. Whatever she feared they'd do."

"Ayako, what are you scared of the bugs doing?"

"I'm scared they'll crawl under my skin…" she whispered, staring at nothing. Monk patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Would they actually have done that?" Mai turned back to Naru.

"I don't know." He said miserably. He felt sick. Luckily Ayako was with Masako, but what if something had happened to Monk? He had sent him all on his own. If he had been injured it would have been his entire fault. Why hadn't he foreseen that the ghost would target SPR? _Stupid, stupid Oliver. What was I thinking?_

"Naru, it wasn't your fault." Mai whispered. He looked at her guiltily.

"How did you know?" He asked quietly. _Why does my guard lower in front of her?_

Mai smiled. "You're not that hard to read." Naru didn't respond. Gene had never had a problem reading him, but that was to be expected, and neither did Lin really, or his parents. It seemed that Mai didn't either, and the others seemed to guess his emotions reasonably accurately, despite the walls he put up. Maybe he just wasn't, like she said, hard to read.

"It's alright, it's only 'cause I've known you for a while." Mai grinned. He looked at her. "No, it's only since we got here. Before, well I could sometimes but..." she trailed off. _So she wanted to be able to read me._

"But that's not the point. Stop blaming yourself. Bou-san knows how to look after himself." Naru chose to ignore her.

"Mai, tea"

"Hai! Bou-san, will you come?" He glanced at Ayako, but nodded and stood up.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked Monk earnestly. He nodded. "That was really brave and kind, staying with her like that. You must really like her."

"I couldn't leave her, she was so scared…"

"But still. What are you scared of?" Mai asked curiously.

"Lot's of things. And you?"

"Me too…"

They were silent on the way back, each thinking of all the things they were scared of.

"I never realised I was scared of the so many things." Mai exclaimed.

"Me neither." Monk smiled.

"Oh great."

They re-entered base. Mai put the tea down on Naru's desk.

"Thank you" Mai stared at Naru. _Is he ill?_ She looked at him worriedly and then brushed it off. Naru meanwhile was thinking along similar lines. _Why did I say thank you? I make sure I never say thank you. Oh… Why does she get what she wants? Let's think, what do I want?_

* * *

Mai, Yasuhara and Masako had been sent to the store to buy more tea and some snacks. Both girls had not been happy about this arrangement, but Naru and Lin wouldn't go, and Monk and Ayako probably didn't want to walk down that street again. Mai and Yasuhara had volunteered, but Naru insisted on Masako going too.

But in the end it wasn't too bad, as Yasuhara was telling them stories about his school and making them both laugh so hard they had trouble walking in a straight line. On the way back they decided to take a longer route to explore more of the village, and because laughing in base was pretty much a sin.

"Wow, look at the lake! I didn't realise there was one." Mai's face lit up in a childish excitement.

"It is very pretty." Masako agreed.

"Come on!" Mai was already walking towards the edge.

"It's so smooth it's almost like a mirror…" Yasuhara studied his reflection. The lake was not very big, but it looked quite deep. The surface was black and there were no ripples, making it look completely smooth, like a piece of glass. Around the edge were wild flowers, and on one side there was a wood.

"This is creepy, let's go." Masako edged away from the edge. The bad feeling had returned, her stomach felt like it was doing flips.

"Nah, look it's fine!" Yasuhara dipped his hand into the water, making the surface crinkle prettily. They watched the ripples cross the lake.

"Seriously, I don't feel so good…" Mai looked at her. She did look even paler then usual. Suddenly she gasped.

"Masako!" Mai spotted a faint image of a man standing behind her. Masako lurched forwards and tripped, landing heavily on her front. She felt something wrap around her leg and drag her backwards, towards the lake. Mai darted forwards and grabbed her hand, yelling at Yasuhara who then did the same.

"Mai!" Masako screamed, clinging onto her as she felt something wrap around her other leg. She was lifted off the ground as more things pulled at her legs, causing her to start moving backwards dragging Mai and Yasuhara with her.

Her feet were now dangling over the water, and she was moving at a steady pace. She felt like she was being torn in two.

"I can't swim!" She screamed a mask of pure terror on her face. Yasuhara and Mai looked at each other in panic. By now they were at the edge of the water, and the bank declined steeply. Mai felt arms wrap around her waist and she was dragged backwards, her fingers were praised from Masako's wrist.

"No!" Mai screamed, unable to do anything as she was deposited by a tree, something wrapped around her wrist to make sure she stayed there. Yasuhara stumbled on a tree root and let go of Masako's hand, causing her to go flying over the lake screaming. She hit the water a few meters away from the edge and started splashing around.

"HELP!" She disappeared under the water. Mai tried to move closer, but the thing holding her wrist refused to let go. She clawed at invisible fingers, but only succeded in hurting herself.

Yasuhara stared at the place Masako had sunk into. Then, without thinking, he took his jumper off and dived into the water.

"Yasuhara! Masako!" Mai fumbled at thing holding her wrist, but its grip was like iron and she couldn't remove it. Yasuhara's head appeared along with Masako's. Masako spluttered and Yasuhara started swimming form shore, supporting Masako's head. Just as they managed to get to shore the force holding Mai back disappeared, and she stumbled forwards, running to help them. Masako was crying.

"Thanks Yasuhara…It's cold…" She whimpered. Mai noticed that she was shivering and took her jacket off to give to her, wrapping it round her small frame like you would to a child. She hugged Masako to try and warm her up. She looked at Yasuhara.

"I'm a man. I can handle it." He said jokingly, putting his jumper back on. "Mai, your wrist." She looked at it. It was heavily bruised.

"Mai, are you okay?" Masako asked, resting her head on Mai's shoulder. She felt so tired...

"Yeah. Let's go back to base."

When they entered base Naru took in a wet Yasuhara and Masako and Mai's bruised wrist.

"What happened?"

"We were next to the lake when something dragged Masako in and it grabbed my wrist to stop me helping so Yasuhara dived in after Masako."

_Two attacks in one day…._Naru was not a happy hippo. Masako and Yasuhara left to get changed. Ayako fussed over Mai.

"Mai, tea. Take Ayako and John." At last, Mai got to make tea with John there. Unfortunately Ayako would be there too, so she would be teased anyway.

"Yasuhara comes up with the most ridiculous things." Said Ayako, referring to Yasuhara's wants list.

"You seem to be thinking about it a lot." Mai teased. She paused. _Mai wants Naru, well that's true enough. But Naru wants Mai? Seriously? Yasuhara needs his head examined. I wonder what they would find in there. _

"Not much." Ayako said, amused.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yep." Mai groaned. She was seriously going to embarrass herself one day. It didn't help that the whole of SPR (minus Naru) had decided that she and Naru should be a couple. John laughed nervously.

"Don't worry Mai. I understand how you feel." Said Ayako, patting Mai's shoulder.

"Are you admitting it?"

"What?"

"Your love…"

"Psh. Yeah right. Yasuhara just made that up."

"I didn't say who for." Mai was practically dancing by now, while John smiled. Ayako blushed. "She's got Bou-san on the brain!"

"If I do, then you've got Naru on the noggin!"

"Eh? No I don't!" Mai blushed furiously. John laughed.

"Pfff…"

"So, are you going to tell him?"

"No…" Ayako shook her head sadly.

"Aww, it's alright Ayako, I know he loves you too."

"Um, Mai, Ayako, the kitchen's here."

"Uh, yeah, we knew that…"

Mai set the water to boil and rummaged around for cups and tea. Suddenly there was a scraping noise, then a crash and boiling water and bits of metal flew round the room. Mai screamed. A few moments later the door slammed open. Naru looked around the kitchen. John and Ayako were cowering on one side the room, but they seemed fine, just a bit surprised.

Mai was near the counter cradling her burnt and cut arms; she had been next to the kettle when it had exploded. There was a deeper cut on the left side of her forehead, and also there were cuts on her legs. Naru rushed to her. He turned the cold water tap on and grabbed her waist, directing her to the sink. Despite the burning pain she blushed. Gingerly she moved her arms so that they were under the tap. She winced as the freezing water ran over her burns and cuts. Monk and Lin were helping Ayako and John up. They were fine; they had been reasonably far away from the kettle. Yasuhara appeared next to Naru, brandishing a first aid kit. He let go of her waist (much to Mai's displeasure) to take it and he opened it on the counter. He rummaged through it till he came across a small bottle of gel. He glanced at the label then turned the tap off and turned Mai so she was facing him.

"Hold out your arms." He instructed. She did so and he started rubbing the gel onto her arms. Her heart sped up and she blushed hard at the feel of his fingers rubbing the gel into her burns.

"Mai, if you're having difficulty breathing I could always let Ayako do it." Naru smirked.

"N-no, it's okay…" She trailed off. From behind Naru Yasuhara winked at Mai and she glared at him. _It's just first aid. No need to get so excited. _Naru finished (leaving Mai very upset) and started rummaging through the box again. He drew out some special dressing then looked at her arms. _Maybe…_ He put the dressing back and started opening draws.

"Naru…"

"Hm?"

"What…what are doing?"

He didn't answer, just carried on looking. He took out of one draw a roll of Clingfilm. Mai was seriously confused. _Why does he need Clingfilm? _He took the end and started wrapping it around one arm, like a bandage.

"Bend your arm." She did as instructed and he carried on wrapping.

"Naru…Why Clingfilm?"

"Because there isn't enough dressing and this will keep the moisture in. Hold still." He finished one arm and started on the other. Once he was done he put the Clingfilm back. Mai inspected her shiny arms. Naru went back to the first aid box and drew out a small box of antiseptic wipes.

"Look at me." She did so and her heart skipped a beat. He started wiping the cut on her forehead.

"Mai, breathe." He whispered, amused.

She took a deep breath to start yelling at him but was stopped by him.

"That's better."

He took a plaster and checked it for size against her cut. He tore off the white paper and gently placed the plaster over the cut, using his fingers to smooth out any air bubbles. He then turned away from her and put the rubbish in the bin. Mai noticed the looks on Monk's, Ayako's and Yasuhara's faces. She frowned and glared at them. Naru and Lin collected all the pieces of metal made a small pile of what was the kettle in the bin.

* * *

**MaiNaru fluff ^^ so sweet. though Naru does seem to get quite a kick out of helping Mai. he hasn't realised yet, though im not sure how. they say you fancy someone for at least 3 months before you realise. With Maru that seems to be more like at least 3 years :D poor Masako, she's not getting what she wants! well, poor thing, she is quite confused. tbh so is the ghost...but ill explain later. dont want to give anything away...  
First aid training actually paid off, but not in the way expected... I guess i should thank the three different poeple who struggled to teach me it. Not that I had much of a choice. I don;t think they did either.  
it's quite nice writing these little notes, and not getting told off coz apparently my grammar is all wrong. according to word. *shakes head* though not having spell check is a problem...  
will be going camping either today or tomorrow, and not coming back till Wednesday (i think) so we'll try to upload as much as possible. luckily it is already written. well, most of it anyway. but we have got a lot of packing to do. and im rabbiting on, when you guys (hopefully) want the next chapter! i shall shut up "-"**


	32. 6 Fears & Desires part 4

Fears and Desires, Part 4

Shopping for Tea

"So, how come we've only got our fears being realised?" Masako asked.

"The ghosts are probably warning us to go away. And anyway Mai is getting her want: I'm saying thank you and sorry-"

"That's not the only want Mai is getting," Yasuhara interrupted, smiling slyly, earning a glare and a blush.

"So, the fears ghost is probably stronger then the wants ghost or the wants ghost is more subtle and less noticed anyway. Either way, the fears ghost is our priority. The wants ghost can probably be cleansed, but I doubt the fears ghost will go easily."

"That's his excuse…" Ayako muttered.

"I don't see you complaining about the wants ghost." Masako pointed out, making Ayako go slightly pink.

"If the ghost is just warning us at the moment, couldn't it get dangerous?" John asked worriedly.

"Yes. Any of you may of course leave at any time."

"Pfff, not likely." Monk answered for everyone.

"We need to know more about this ghost. Yasuhara, have you found anything?"

"Nothing special."

"Keep looking. Take someone with you."

"I pick Mai!"

"No. Take someone who has some defensive spiritual powers."

"I have defensive powers!" Mai protested.

"They're very weak and will probably do nothing against the ghost."

John sensed a coming argument. "I will go."

Yasuhara linked his arm around John's and skipped out of base, practically dragging John. Mai felt sorry for John, but she preferred not being partnered with Yasuhara. Especially not while her arms were wrapped up in Clingfilm that reflected the light very easily.

* * *

"So, Yasuhara, what's your fear?"

"Dying a virgin. What about you?"

"Errr…"

"Come on John! You can tell me anything!"

"Well, I'm not really sure. Seriously though, what's your biggest fear?"

"I suppose it would be sponges."

"Sponges?"

"When I was little my dad told me that things lived in the holes and they'd eat me and ever since then I've given them a wide berth. He was joking of course, but, I don't know, the fear sort of stayed."

"Oh. Well, I guess your pretty safe, unless a truck carrying sponges explodes…"

"So, what about you?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really have anything I'm _really_ scared of, just the usual things, heights… I guess heights…"

"There aren't any tall buildings round here, so you're safe." They were at the library by now, so they entered and started browsing through records. There was nothing on the first floor, so they moved upstairs.

John closed the thick book and sighed. They had been searching for a good few hours but hadn't come across anything of use yet. He moved to the window and looked out.

"Yasuhara…" He squeaked, backing away from the window.

"Yes?"

"L-look…"

Yasuhara peered out the window.

"What? We're only on the second floor!"

The view out of the window was not from the second floor of a building, but from the 70th floor. Yasuhara looked at John. He had gone a lot paler. Yasuhara looked at the small village, miles away below them. People moving around below looked like ants. He looked around the library room. There was no-one else there.

"John, come on." He made his way to the stairs, John following him. He paused at the stairs. They were made of metal and there were no banisters, just wire mesh on the side protecting you from the drop of 70 floors. John stopped and paled even more. He knew that it had to be an illusion of some sort, but it looked so real…He felt safer inside the room then on the stairs. He refused to move.

"John! The faster we get down the stairs, the faster we get out of here!"

John shook his head weakly. He felt that the stairs might break. Yasuhara sighed and grabbed John's wrist, running down the stairs, forcing John to follow him.

"Look at the ground, not at the view."

John looked at the stairs underneath his feet as he ran after Yasuhara. The stairs seemed to be never ending. Then, he saw a hole in the floor. Yasuhara was running straight at it.

"No! Yasuhara! Stop!" Yasuhara stopped. On the hole.

"What?" He saw John's line of gaze, and looked down. "Oh." He let go of John's wrist and knelt down, tapping the glass underneath his feet to prove to John it was safe. John edged round the glass bit, and then started running with Yasuhara again.

After what seemed like forever, the stairs ended, and they ran into the first floor of the library, panting. John looked back at the stairs. They looked normal and innocent again.

"John, are you okay?"

He nodded. "I'm fine. Let's go." They made their way back to the inn without anything jumping on them.

"I'm thirsty, how about you?" John asked. Yasuhara nodded. John led the way around the building. He opened the door to the kitchen, blushed and closed it again.

"John?" Yasuhara spotted his pink face. "What is it?" He asked moving towards the kitchen.

"I don't think you should go in…" He said nervously.

"It's alright John, there's not much I can't face." He said jokingly, and opened the door.

* * *

Yasuhara left base dragging a surprised John with him. Mai almost laughed. Almost.

"Ayako and Bou-san, we need some more tea." Naru said.

"Why doesn't Mai go?" Monk asked.

"One, observe Mai's arms, two I said we need to know more about the ghost." Monk nodded and they set of.

"What about me?" Masako asked sweetly.

"You can go with them if you want." Naru sat down and started reading. Masako caught Mai's eye.

"I'd rather stay."

"And me?" Mai asked, still annoyed with him.

"Go to sleep."

"Eh? I can't just go to sleep at the drop of a hat!" Mai protested.

"You don't seem to have any problems in the office or van."

"We're not in the office! Or van!" Naru sighed.

"Take your time. I get the feeling Ayako and Bou-san may be a while." Mai glared at him, so he glared back, but neither glare had much effect. She curled up on the couch, seeing as no one seemed about to talk, it was pretty much her only option.

_I came out of work and walked home, avoiding the alleyway as I always did now. Instead I took the longer route by the main street, stopping to buy some fruit from a shop. I looked up, and the two men were behind me in the queue. I gulped and they smiled at me, as if we had never met before, and certainly not like they followed me almost all the time. _

_As I made my way out of the shop I noticed the leader strolling along the street, and on the opposite side of the road two more men from the group sat talking. They all looked completely innocent, but I can't shake of the feeling that something bad is about to happen. _

_I walked down the street, wanting to get home as quickly as I could, when suddenly there was an explosion from the other end of the street. I saw the leader look over his shoulder in satisfaction, and I knew they had something to do with it. _

_For a moment I couldn't move, the shock kept me rooted to the ground. Then I snapped back to reality and started running, along with countless other people towards where the explosion had come from. _

_The local official's house was half gone, and the rest was on fire. Women and children were stuck inside, calling for help, and I saw one man dip his coat in the well and chuck it through the fire so the people inside could get out. I saw someone trying to organise a bucket chain, and scurrying around trying to find some vessels to do it with, meanwhile the screams and cries for help grew ever louder._

_And it was all my fault. I should have said something, got the men taken away and punished before they could do anything. I felt numb, and I walked home without feeling anything. All those people who died could have lived. I effectively killed them._

Mai gasped and sat up.

-Meanwhile-

Monk and Ayako wandered through the village. They had already been in one shop, but they had run out of tea, so they were looking for another one.

"Which one did Mai, Masako and Yasuhara go to again?" Monk asked, scratching his head as they walked down the same street again.

"I'm not sure, but Masako said it was towards the left of the village from the inn."

"If only we could find the main street…"

"I _told _you to go right, but you said left. And now we're lost!"

"We wouldn't be lost if you hadn't said to go left from that shop. We should have gone right and _then _left."

"It's not my fault you have a terrible sense of direction." Ayako said, inspecting her nails.

"And yours is _so_ much better!"Monk said sarcastically.

"Obviously. It's not hard."

"That was sarcasm."

"I knew that. I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me…" Ayako glared at him and he instinctively dodged away from a hit that didn't come.

"There it is!" Ayako grabbed his hand and dragged him to the main street. "There's got to be _somewhere _that sells tea here…" She pulled him along the street.

"Ah, Ayako, could you let go of my hand please? You're hurting me…"

"Stop being such a wimp! Be a man!"

"I think I already proved that I am…" He mused. Ayako blushed. _God__, I'm turning into Mai._ The thought scared her a bit.

"Sorry." She shuddered slightly, remembering all those bugs and let go. Monk immediately felt slightly guilty for making her remember. He felt a change of subject was called for.

"That shop looks promising." He pointed to a small supermarket type thing slightly farther up the street. Ayako nodded.

5 minutes later they came out with tea. Ayako checked her mobile.

"We've been out for 2 hours!" She cried, confused and surprised. Alright, they got lost but still…

"Let's be quick…" Monk said nervously, not quite sure how two whole hours could have passed quite so quickly. They hastily made their way back to the inn without getting lost this time.

"Maybe we should just put the stuff straight into the kitchen. I'm sure we can find where tea's usually kept." Ayako said, leading the way through the inn. Monk put the bag on the counter and they searched.

"I'm actually going to kill him!" Ayako's voice was laced with fury. Monk looked up, and made his way over. The open cupboard was full of tea.

"The cupboard was full, and he sent me all the way to get tea with you." She sounded pretty miffed.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Monk turned away dejectedly.

"I, er… no, it's not such a bad thing. I, um, I don't mind actually…" Ayako stuttered, realising what she had said.

"So you don't mind that he sent you _with me_ even though the cupboard was full?" He asked, taking a step closer.

"Er…" Ayako's brain had shut down. _That is what I said wasn't it? Why does he have to twist my words?_

"Even though we had to walk so far?" Monk continued as though her face wasn't completely red.

"Uh, noo?" Ayako squeaked out. Monk smiled. Ayako was so close to him she could feel heat radiating of his skin. She didn't even remember taking a step. He gently pressed his lips to hers. He felt her lips curve, before her hands ran through his hair and clasped behind his neck pulling him closer. His arms had already encircled her waist.

Suddenly the door burst open. They jumped apart embarrassed to find Yasuhara in the doorway with his mouth hanging open, and John just behind him looking, if anything, _more_ embarrassed then either Ayako or Monk.

* * *

**AWWW! Monk and Ayako are so cute :) who'd have thought _Naru _would have had a plan. It was probably Mai...  
anyway, the next chapter should be good, with a MASSIVE cliff hanger. hope you like ^^**


	33. 6 Fears & Desires part 5

Fears and Desires, Part 5

Collapse

Yasuhara looked at Ayako and Monk stunned. Suddenly he grinned.

"Well, my drink can wait. I'll just, er, leave you to it then." He shut the door as quickly as he had opened it. Everyone looked up in surprise as Yasuhara practically sprinted into the room, with John tagging along behind.

When he saw Mai was asleep he frowned slightly. He knew he should tell her first, as Monk was practically her big brother, but it was hard to contain himself for that long. Mai gasped and sat up.

"It's all my fault!" She said. Naru looked up from his book and made his way over to her. He sat by her feet and waited. Mai collected herself and explained the story.

"Mai-chan! Mai-chan, you're awake!" Yasuhara danced round the couch.

"What do you want Yasu?" He bent down and whispered in her ear. Naru watched with a touch of anger. Her eyes widened.

"No way" she breathed. Yasuhara nodded.

"Aww, that's so kawaii!" She jumped up in excitement.

"I know!"Yasuhara cried. John mumbled something from where he was sitting in the corner.

"What is it?" Naru asked suspiciously. Mai hesitated, but Yasuhara nudged her. She bent down and whispered in his ear.

"I guess I won't be having any tea then." Was his only comment before he settled down to reading again.

"What is it?" Masako asked. Yasuhara told her as Mai danced over to Lin and told him too. "Really?"

Just then the door opened and Ayako and Monk entered, Monk carrying a cup of tea. Mai waited till Monk had put the cup down by Naru's arm before she ran and hugged him.

"Aww Bou-san!"

"What?" He asked cautiously.

"Nothing." She continued to hug him and Monk sent daggers Yasuhara's way with his eyes. Yasuhara shrugged. The only people who weren't excited were Naru, Lin and John- Naru because he wasn't interested in things like that, Lin was pleased, but not excited and John because he was still recovering in the corner. Meanwhile Yasuhara had to run away from both Monk and Ayako. It got stopped by Naru.

"Yasuhara, John, did you find anything out?"

Yasuhara shook his head. "It attacked us before we found anything out."

"It attacked you? What did it do?" Mai asked.

"It made it seem like we were 70 floors up and we had to run down lots of stairs to get back to the first floor. It didn't actually hurt us. But John got pretty terrified." Yasuhara explained while John mumbled something.

"Ayako, Bou-san, did anything happen to you when you went to get tea? You were gone for over 2 hours."

"Nope. We took so much time because we got lost."

"How could you get lost?" Mai asked.

"It was Ayako's fault because she said to go left straight away instead of right then left." Monk explained as if it was obviously her fault and the fact that at the shop they turned left was the cause of all their problems.

Whack!

"It was not my fault! It was your fault we got lost! You made us go right!"

"Alright children, settle down!" Yasuhara chimed. They both glared at him, but shut up. There was silence.

"So, er, Naru can I take these of yet?" Mai asked, holding her arms out like a zombie.

"Yes…" Everyone watched as Mai attempted to take of the cling film wrappings. Monk snorted.

"Very elegant." was Yasuhara's comment as she flailed around after losing her balance. She righted herself and continued to try and find the end, but Naru had tucked it in and Mai couldn't pull it out. Monk eventually gave up trying to hold the laughter in, and the others followed laughed too.

"Eh? Guys, help me!" Mai was getting annoyed, which just made them laugh harder. Ayako made to stand up, but Monk's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her back. Naru sighed, it was impossible to read with all the racket, not to mention that Mai had almost hit him in the face already.

"Mai sit down." He ordered. She spun round, tripping over her own feet, but catching herself at the last moment. Naru rolled his eyes. Mai made it to the couch unharmed.

"Arms" She obediently held them out. Slowly he started unwrapping the Clingfilm. She shivered slightly as his cool fingers brushed her arm. Nobody noticed Lin pull out his phone.

"Wow, who knew Naru-chan had a maternal side?" Monk snickered, earning a death glare, but he stopped snickering and winced when he saw Mai's arm.

"It's a good thing you don't scar, right?" he asked. Mai nodded unhappily. Her arms were pink and blotchy, and in places blisters were starting to form. Cuts criss-crossed, but they were superficial.

Naru had finished and Yasuhara handed him a couple of bandages (ahh, he's so useful…) and Naru proceeded to gently bandage her arms. When he was done he continued reading his file leaving the others to talk about whatever they talked about. Naru never could understand how they managed to come up with such trivia. He sighed.

"Mai, tea" he said out of pure habit.

"Naru! I can't make tea like this!" she cried. Naru looked up. _Oh yeah…_

"Ayako, go with her…"

"Actually I'm kind of busy right now…" he sighed, irritated.

"John?" John mumbled something from his corner.

"Yasuhara?" He was in the corner with John.

"Lin" Lin's mobile rang. He glanced at the caller ID.

"It's Madoka…" Naru sighed. There was no way Lin could not take that call…

"Bou-san?" No reply. He was whispering to Ayako.

"Masako?" But she was nowhere to be seen. _So, that means there's only...me left._ He shot a glare at everyone in the room but got up. Everyone wore a triumphant grin.

"Operation Make-Mai-And-Naru-Spend-As-Much-Time-Together-As-Is-Humanly-Possible seems to be working!" Yasuhara crowed. "Good job, John." He patted the priest on the back, and he smiled.

"Where did you learn to act so well?" He asked.

"In school I was the lead in the school plays… I had a really good drama teacher in primary school."

"I'll say." John got up and they walked to the sofa.

"Er, let's just leave them…"

"It makes you feel slightly sick doesn't it?" John looked at Yasuhara in surprise. "I didn't mean in your way! I meant in a sickly sweet way!"

"Er, right…"

"Who knows what the ghost has done to their brains…"

* * *

Mai struggled with the teapot, trying to put enough water in it without the ability to bend her arms properly.

"You could help instead of just standing there!" She glared at him.

"Oh, right, sorry…"

"…"

Naru frowned. _Stupid ghost, making me say things like sorry and thank you. It's only trying to give her what she wants, but it really is silly. Like my team. The point of sending Mai to get tea is that I don't go. They have too much free time. _He took the kettle and swung it under the tap till there was enough water for tea and set it boil. Mai watched the kettle in case it tried something funny, like exploding.

"Mai."

"Yes?"

"You can go back. Your presence here is useless." He could make tea well enough.

"What do you mean, I'm useless?"

"You are not making the tea, I am. So you are not needed in the kitchen."

"I am making the tea!" She opened the cupboard and grabbed a cup, wincing from the sudden movement.

"Not if it hurts you." Mai looked at him. _He's being… nice?_

"No, no it's okay" She smiled at him.

"Mai…" he started reaching out for the cup.

"Naru, if you come any closer, I'll… I'll…" she trailed off.

"You'll what?"

"Err…"

"Exactly." He took the cup out of her grasp. _Dammit, you can't threaten him! _

He put the cup on the counter and poured water into it, then searched for the tea.

"Er, Naru, it's here." She said pointing to the cupboard with one hand and pulling out a jar with the other. He held out his hand, but Mai ignored him and started dipping a tea bag into the cup.

"If you can make it why do you always send me?" She asked.

"I don't have the time to do unimportant things like make tea."

"How do you know I don't have the time?" He shot her a look that said 'seriously?'

"I might like to remind you I pay you."

"To do office work, not tea…"

"Same thing."

Mai glared, but picked up the cup, wincing again. Naru rolled his eyes, and took the cup from her, before striding out of the kitchen. Mai followed him back to base. Everyone looked up at them when they came in, but Naru ignored their looks and carried on reading. Mai plonked herself on the sofa in between Monk and Ayako.

"You planned that." She muttered angrily so that Naru wouldn't hear.

"Of course." Yasuhara was behind Mai, leaning on the back of the sofa.

"So, what happened?" Monk poked her.

"Nothing…"

"What? Not even a fight?"

"Well, yeah, we did… over who would make the tea…"

"Over who would make the tea?" Yasuhara sounded incredulous.

"But Mai-chan, you _always_ make the tea…"

"Yeah, but I asked him to fill the kettle and he decided that meant he should make it himself because 'I was useless'." She scowled at him, but he was busy reading.

"Don't worry Mai-chan, he finds you very useful really…"

"Hmm" _Yeah right._

Suddenly he jumped up, dropping the file on the table he grabbed his trench coat and walked out the door.

"Naru" Lin looked up from his work.

"I need to check something, I'll be back soon." Lin nodded and continued typing.

"The operation isn't working." Ayako smirked.

"It will! Just give it time!" Yasuhara sounded offended. Mai looked from one to the other.

"Who's having an operation?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"My aunt." Ayako quickly lied. Monk released a breath. Mai was not allowed to know about the plan, otherwise she would try to stop it…

"But why…?" she still looked confused. _They're up to something_. She thought warily.

"Has anyone seen Masako?" Yasuhara quickly changed subject. They all shook their heads.

"Oh great…" Monk stood up. The feeling had returned, like there was a brick in his gut. They all got up, feeling nervous and made their way through the inn.

"I'm sure she's fine…" Mai said, mostly to convince herself. They opened the girl's room. It was empty. _Why do I feel so nervous?_ Mai couldn't shake the feeling away.

They checked the boy's bedroom and the entrance hall to the inn, then the kitchen. Finally they trudged back upstairs. Ayako paused outside her room.

"I'll be a mo…" she muttered. The others continued. Suddenly they heard a scream.

"Ayako!" Monk raced back to the room and flung open the door.

Ayako was hugging Masako. Monk scratched his head.

"Why did you scream?" He asked.

"She just made me jump…" Ayako said. Mai appeared in the doorway with John.

"Masako! We were so worried." They said simultaneously, rushing forwards.

CRACK

"What was that?" Monk spun round. There was another cracking sound, and then a large thud.

"What on earth?" John rushed to the window.

"Oh my…" He stared out. The others joined him. Mai gasped. In the middle of the street there was a gap where there should have been part of a house. Her eyes travelled down to the wreckage spewed across the street.

"I hope everyone's fine…" she said, as they all sprinted outside.

Around the collapsed part of the building a crowd of villagers had gathered. A woman came along.

"What is it? MY HOUSE!" She shouted, staring at it. She started to shake. Ryuu tried to comfort her, as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"I can't, I can't live there any more. My children!" She gasped, running to the wreckage and tugging wood and plaster aside. Soon the villagers recovered from shock and rushed to help her.

"Come on." Monk muttered, they could already see Lin helping. They split up, Monk, John and Yasuhara going to help Lin shift some of the heavier beams while the girls split up. Mai spotted a place where no one was working, and rushed towards there, throwing plaster to the edge of the massive heap. Everyone dug, and the pile decreased slowly.

She tripped over something. Looking back to see it she saw a piece of black cloth. _That looks like…_ Frantically she dug around the black, trying to uncover as much as possible. A cheer went up when someone found one of the children unharmed but she didn't notice. She couldn't get rid of the feeling of dread which had taken over.

Her hands were bleeding, but she didn't care. She carried on until she could see his leg.

"No." She shook her head. That was not possible. She moved forward a bit and started digging there. She could see his arm, then his torso, then his neck, and finally his head. She shook him.

"Come on Naru, get up!" She muttered. She put her head against his chest.

"No, no, no, no, no. Naru you can't die on me, you haven't…" Realisation flooded in. Her eyes widened and she started sobbing.

"N-n-NARU!"


	34. 6 Fears & Desires part 6

**Please don't hate us :(**

* * *

Fears and Desires, Part 6

Numb

"N-n-NARU!"

Lin's head snapped up. _If anything has happened to him…_

Monk, John, Masako and Ayako were already moving towards her, but Lin was closer. He got up and quickly crossed the wreckage. Where was she? He looked around, and spotted her.

He stood next to her, looking down. She had flung herself across him, sobbing and clutching at him.

"Wake up, Naru. Come on, please!" She shouted at his still body. She slapped him.

"Mai…" The others had arrived. She looked at them through her tear stained face, which at moment could have broken anybodies heart. Masako gasped and started to cry silently. John rubbed her shoulders comfortingly.

Lin bent down and pressed his fingers to his wrist. Nothing.

"Breath Naru!" He breathed into his mouth twice and started compressions, but there was nothing. Ayako got a torch out of her pocket and shined it at his eyes. She sat down. Mai looked at her expectantly.

"He's… gone…" Ayako whispered, tears of her own starting. Mai felt her heart break. She felt like part of herself had died along with him. She fainted.

"Let's get her out of here." Monk picked her up and carried her back to base. Ayako, Masako and Yasuhara followed, while John prayed over Naru and Lin stood there numb.

"Naru should be here carrying her…" Yasuhara said quietly.

He laid her gently on the couch as her eyelids fluttered. She groaned.

"Naru…" she whispered. _It has to be some joke. He can't be dead. He can't be…_ She cried out.

"Hush Mai…" Ayako stroked her forehead, but it was hard to sooth her when she was crying herself.

"No!" She screamed. Ayako glanced at Monk, who nodded. He got her her medicine bag and then left. Ayako rummaged around, pulling out a needle.

"Here, this will help you sleep…" she murmured, before injecting the sedative. Everyone sat in the corridor, waiting for her.

"She's asleep." They nodded, half expecting Naru to come along and shout at them for not looking after her better. They sat there numb when the door at the end of the corridor opened and they looked up. Ryuu nervously stood in the doorway.

"I'm so sorry. If you want to leave, we of course will understand…" They looked at each other.

"We'll finish the case. We owe that much to Naru." Monk said.

"Right. I'm so sorry again. How is the girl?"

"She's sedated, but she'll wake up in a few hours."

"O-okay. Were they…?"

"Sort of…" Yasuhara said as Ayako started crying harder. Monk tried to comfort her. Ryuu nodded and left, offering condolences to John and Lin who had just appeared.

"Where's Mai?" John asked. Yasuhara jerked a thumb to the base.

"Maybe we should sit with her?"

"I don't think I can, every time I look at her I feel even more sad." Monk chocked out. They nodded and set off for the kitchen. Yasuhara started to make tea to calm everyone down, but then he realised what he was doing and started to cry.

"He didn't even finish his last cup…" He sobbed.

No one moved for some time. Masako and Ayako had calmed down but still everyone felt numb. Lin sighed. He would have to call his parents, and Madoka, but he was not really sure he could face that right now.

The door flew open.

* * *

"_One."_

"_Two."_

"_Three."_

"_Four."_

"_You're the girl I met yesterday. What's your name?"_

"_Taniyama Mai."_

"_Taniyama-san… Might I have a moment?"_

"_I want you to be my substitute assistant."_

"_Y-your assistant? Shibuya-san, you want me to help you in your work?"_

"_Isn't that what it sounded like?"_

"_And I am its manager."_

"_But why are you exterminating ghosts?"_

"_Because I am needed."_

"_But there have been incidents you couldn't solve, right?"_

"_No."_

"_Amazing! Smart and Handsome, too!"_

"_You think I'm handsome?"_

"_Well, aren't you? Everyone else was making a fuss."_

"_Hm. Their taste isn't too bad."_

"_Say, Naru-chan, what should I do today?"_

"_What did you just say? Did you just call me 'Naru'?"_

"_S-sorry, um…"_

"_Where did you hear that?"_

"_Naru-cissistic Naru-chan!"_

"_Naru, your hand…"_

"_It'll stop bleeding soon."_

"_I heard you got hurt."_

"_Oh, it was nothing."_

"_Does your school allow you to have part time jobs?"_

"_Naru, you're back!"_

"_Where did you think I was?"_

"_Even I can do so much as bending a spoon."_

"_Mai, can you do me a favour. Don't tell anyone."_

"_Mai! What are you doing?"_

"_Listen, put your foot on the ladder again. Can you do that?"_

"_Are you okay?"_

"_So you're feeling better now?"_

"_Yes. You could tell?"_

"_I can tell. You're very easy to read."_

"_Mai, do you want to meet my pet?"_

"_Mai, whatever happens, stay close to me and don't panic."_

"_Naru!"_

"_Mai, tea."_

"_Did you want something?"_

"_That makes Naru…"_

"_The big, bad, boss!"_

"_Are you finally awake?"_

"_Mai! Are you okay?"_

"_We're fine."_

"_I despise you!"_

"_I'm sorry. I said some things in a harsh way."_

"_You're always stealing the good bits for yourself!"_

"_Oh no. It's too heavy for a woman to carry."_

"_Naru…"_

"_Are you okay?"_

"_Hm."_

"_Naru does care about his friends, he's just not good at showing it."_

"_Naru and Lin have eloped."_

"_Is that all you can do?"_

"_What good is your pride if you rely others to look after you?"_

"_Mai! Are you alright? Do you know what happened?"_

"_How can you be sure of that?"_

"_Because he's Naru."_

"_You're tired. Go to bed."_

"_Why not? I'm not scary."_

"_Feelings? Naru doesn't have any feelings."_

"_I would appreciate it if you chose not to abuse my staff."_

"_I could easily hurt you, remember that."_

"_I slammed a bookshelf into a wall. Nothing to be worried about."_

"_I GOT CHILLS, THEY'RE MULTIPLYIN'…"_

"_Mai. It's not your fault."_

"_Mai. Shut up."_

"_But you won't kill your own brother. You won't hurt him, even if he kills you."_

"_HE'S DEAD!"_

"_Do you hate me?"_

"_No buts! Promise me you won't do that again."_

"_Making Naru extremely jealous."_

"_Mai! Stop poking me! You better have a good reason to wake me up at… half three."_

"_Move, baka."_

"_I think Naru's fainted…"_

"_I have not fainted. Stop licking me."_

"_I'm fine."_

"_You wouldn't."_

"_Try me."_

"_Fine."_

"_Mai wants Naru, Naru wants Mai…"_

"_Look at me. Mai, breathe. That's better."_

"_That's not the only want Mai is getting."_

"_Not if it hurts you."_

_"... I'll be back soon."_

"_Come on Naru, get up! You can't die on me…"_

"_N-n-NARU!"_

Mai woke up.

* * *

"I need to check on something. I'll be back soon." Naru left the base. He hoped that the report had not been tampered with. If it hadn't it fit in with Mai's dream and that meant that he knew who the wants ghost was, and why it was doing what it was.

That would only leave the fears ghost. He had an idea, but he couldn't be sure. He left the inn, and went out onto the street. The road was empty except for him. He hurried towards the house that was in the picture.

He knocked on the door. A middle aged woman opened it.

"Ah, Shibuya-san, what can I do for you?" She asked.

"I was wondering if I might be allowed to look around your house?"

"Of course." She stepped aside, letting him in. He examined the house from top to bottom, but didn't find what he wanted.

"How long has your family lived here?"

"Since the village was founded, in around 1840. Was there anything specific you were looking for?"

"Yes. Do you perhaps have any records from your family's past."

"Yes actually. I was researching my family tree, so I have lots. In here… I'll just leave you to look through them, shall I?" The woman lead him to a small study at the front of the house. From the shelves she pulled down a few boxes.

"Thank you." The woman bowed and left, shutting the door behind her. Naru opened the first box and pulled out a few sheets of paper.

CRACK

Naru looked up. What on earth? There were more loud cracks, then a sliding sound followed by a huge thudding noise as something very heavy hit the ground. _What was that?_ He ran to the window and looked out, but he couldn't see anything except people running up the street. He went swiftly to the door.

It was locked. _I didn't lock it… neither did the woman…_ He tugged, and then slammed his shoulder against it. But it refused to open. He returned to the window. He watched as SPR came out of the inn and ran towards the noise. He tried to open the window, but it was stuck fast. Becoming irritated he tried the door again, but it was pointless.

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. Then he ran at the door and kicked it, like Lin had taught him. The door shook, but didn't break. Suddenly there was a cheer.

He returned to the window. Someone was carrying a small child down the street, away from whatever was going on. There was a general commotion, but he couldn't work out what was happening.

"N-n-NARU!" Mai screamed. Naru's stomach flipped. He ran to the door and tried to open it again, becoming more and more panicked. _What happened? She wouldn't scream like that unless it was something really bad. Maybe she's hurt. Why won't this bloody door open? Why did I come here? Why didn't I tell anyone? What if the others can't get to her? Maybe she's trapped and injured, or worse… _An image floated in his mind of Mai dying, calling for him.

He banged on the door mercilessly. _Surely someone will hear me! It won't be long before Lin will come looking for me, surely. If they just read the file then they should work out where I am!_

He gave up on the door which clearly wasn't going to break or open and ran to the window. He pulled it, twisting the key in the lock first this then that way. He reached behind him and his hands closed on a book. It was heavy. Good. He picked it up and threw it with all his strength at the window. It didn't even make a scratch.

He picked up the book and pounded away, but the glass refused to break. He saw Monk carrying something, with the others following him, apart from Lin and John. His breath caught. _Mai…_ She was pale and still, one limp, bandaged arm hanging down. _God, what happened?_ She was covered in dust and grime, and there was blood on her hands. He saw the grief in Monk's eyes, and the tears flowing down Ayako and Masako's faces. _Even Hara-san's crying, it must be really bad. What if she's… _But he couldn't bring himself to think of it.

He felt hollowed out, and a strange ache filled his chest.

"No." _She can't be, it's not possible. The others would never let her…_ He remembered her scream, filled with pain and anguish, and was there fear too? It kept on replaying in his mind over and over. He thought of all the ways she could have been injured, she was such a danger magnet anything could have happened. His brain was racing, but he couldn't think straight.

He crumpled into a heap on the middle of the floor.

* * *

**You didn't actually think we had killed Naru did you? We could never ever do that to him, or Mai, or Lin, or Luella and Martin, or Ayako, Monk, John, Masako, Yasuhara or Madoka. Tut tut. Shame on you. We did say nothing was as it seemed. **


	35. 6 Fears & Desires part 7

Fears and Desires, Part 7

Ghost

Naru hadn't moved for several minutes. His mind was working overtime, and he couldn't stop the flood of images.

"No." He growled. She couldn't be dead. He got up. _What to do…_ He couldn't get out of the room, and the only things in here were accounts and the papers he had been reading, but he didn't want to read, he just wanted to get out. To make sure she was okay.

The room's temperature had dropped. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed. He looked up.

There was a woman standing in the room. Her face looked pained, but apart from that she seemed fine. He matched her to the description Mai had given him. _The woman from her dream…_

"I need your help…" She whispered. Naru nodded. He'd do anything, as long as he could get out.

"I don't have much time, he is so much stronger. Try to… the door…" She faded away. Her voice was so faint Naru couldn't make out what she said at the end. Something about the door…

He crossed the room and tugged at the handle. Nothing. He slammed against it again and again. But he was getting tired. He wanted to blast the door right off its hinges, but that was useless. How would he get to Mai if he fainted? Or worse? He took a deep breath. _Come on, Noll, just once more._ He grunted, but ran at the door again. It broke and he landed on it. He jumped up quickly, and sprinted out of the house, then up the street to the inn. He ran through the ground floor, flinging open any doors he could find. _Think, Noll, think…_ but he was panicking and couldn't. He flung open the door to the kitchen.

SPR (minus Mai) stood there, nobody moving. They were grieving, he could tell. They looked up, and stared at him. His eyes noted Mai's absence. _No…_

"Where is she?" He growled, but they just stared at him. Suddenly Masako burst into tears. He stared at her, but his mind put two and two together. _She really is…_ He sprinted up the stairs, still in denial.

He opened all the doors he came to, checking each room for any sign of her. Finally he reached the base. His eyes scanned the room.

"Mai!" She was lying on the couch, completely still. He stumbled into the room and sat by her feet. He reached over and took her wrist, checking her pulse. It was there, just faint. Relief coursed through him, making him feel giddy and examined her hands. They were badly scratched, and covered with bruises that were blue, purple, green and yellow.

_Wait, she's sedated. What happened that she needed to be sedated? Wake up, Mai._ The strange ache returned, but not as strongly. _She could be really badly injured._ He checked, but couldn't see anything that looked too serious. Not that that didn't mean she hadn't cut her stomach or something…

Mai stirred and Naru leaned forward. She opened her eyes, looked at him for a second, then closed her eyes again.

"I'm going mad…" She opened her eyes again. He was still there, looking at her seriously.

"I must've died too…" They stared at each other for a few moments, then Naru spoke.

"Thankfully, you're not dead."

She contemplated this for a second, then reached out. She felt his arm, half expecting her hand to go through him.

"But you feel real. When you hallucinate do things feel real? No, I don't think so… " _Maybe he doesn't realise he's dead._

"Naru, you can't hang around, you have to pass on, I don't think John could cope with exorcising you." She said firmly. He looked at her like she'd gone mad.

"Mai, what are you on about?"

"Well, that leaves… I thought heaven would look… different…" She looked around.

"Mai, we're not in heaven."

"B-but, that's the only explanation left! Either you don't realise your dead, or I've died too and we've gone to heaven. But I thought ghosts wouldn't be… solid…so that leaves heaven, but you said we're not in heaven…"

"I'm not dead. And neither are you."

"Oh…I'm dreaming aren't I?"

He looked at her.

"I am dreaming!"

"Mai, you're delirious."

"No, no. Oh…" Suddenly her eyes turned sad and filled with tears. _When I wake he'll be gone… This will be the last I speak to him… I don't want to wake up…_

"Mai you're awake. The sedative must have messed with your brain."

"Sedative? Oh, yeah. Naru?"

"Yes?"

"Will I still dream about you even though you're…" She choked on the end of her sentence.

"I don't know." _She really is delirious. _

* * *

In the kitchen, everyone stared at the door. 10 minutes later Monk managed to speak.

"Was that… was that…"

"Pity he only realises _after _he dies." Yasuhara's voice cracked.

"I'm even imagining him!" Cried Ayako.

"Wait, did everyone else see it too?" John asked incredulously. They nodded.

"It must be his ghost…" Monk muttered. They stared at the door, and then ran through the hotel, looking for the spirit of Naru. In much the same manner as him earlier they flung open doors, running anywhere, their brains not really working.

"Maybe he's in the base; it's where he spent most of his time…" They sprinted up to base, and opened the door carefully. Naru was on the couch, leaning over Mai.

"…the sedative must have messed with your brain." He said. They watched quietly.

"Sedative? Oh, yeah. Naru?"

"Yes?"

"Will I still dream about you even though you're…"

"I don't know."

They had been standing there gaping, before Lin spoke.

"Noll…" He said quietly. Naru looked up.

"We don't want to… to exorcise you. Um, if you could just, er, pass on?" Monk asked, not really sure how to speak to Naru's ghost. Something clicked in Naru's brain. _Mai said the same thing… they think I'm a ghost?_

"I'm not a ghost."

"He doesn't realise he's dead…" Ayako almost sobbed.

"I'm not dead."

"Er, Naru, you kind of are. You see, Mai found your body…" John started to explain.

"This is my body. And Mai definitely did not find it. I would remember."

"Naru, half a house collapsed on you. You were buried quite deep…" He continued. He looked at Naru expectantly.

"I am _not_ dead. What house collapsed?" His brain woke up. _Ohh… that's what it was._

"Now everyone's in my dream…" Mai muttered from the couch.

"Mai, you're not dreaming. You've woken up." Ayako had wandered to the couch to check she was okay.

"She's delirious." Naru stated. "No, if a house collapsed I would remember the pain. I remember being locked in a room and watching Bou-san walk past carrying a comatose Mai with Ayako, Hara-san and Yasuhara following."

"You got locked in a room in the house? That explains why you didn't get out…" Monk scratched his head. Masako, who had been quite all this time, spoke up.

"I don't sense any spirit presence."

"Maybe she's having a bad day. After all, you have been wrong in the past. And your upset." Ayako pointed out.

"Says you, who has failed to exorcise spirits, how many times was it?" Masako shot back.

Mai got up from the couch and studied Naru. _He looks different to how he normally does in my dreams…just slightly off… but how?_

"Naru, there's your body outside in a body bag. Explain that."

"Show me." Naru replied, standing up. He was pretty confident he wasn't dead from experience.

They all made their way through the inn and went outside. Near the front door was a black body bag. Lin paused, and then unzipped it. Naru looked at himself. He was sure he wasn't dead, so why was he in a body bag? He bent down next to it, examining it. There had to be a flaw, because _that simply could not be him._ He reached out and touched his pale hand. His body looked peaceful, but it was incredibly white and pale. His hand was cold too. Like stone. Had he died? No.

He thought about when he picked up Gene's jumper, and had felt himself die. No, it was completely different.

"Lin." Lin looked at him. He gestured and the Chinese man bent slightly. "No, I know what dying feels like, and I definitely did not die." He whispered to him. Lin nodded and stood up slowly. Everyone else stared at them. Naru could tell Lin was thinking about it.

He turned back to not-his body. Silently he reached out and unbuttoned the body's shirt. Then turning it slightly he examined the body's side, running his fingers over it. Completely smooth. He smirked. He found the flaw.

"That's not me, and I can prove it."

"How? It is you!"

"Anyone would think you actually wanted me to be dead. 2 cases ago, while I was in hospital, the ghost decided to pay me a visit. I'm sure you remember, Mai, Lin, John."

Mai and John nodded.

"I gained a gash on my side, and it scarred slightly. There is no scar on this body. The ghost tricked you into believing I was dead."

Mai remembered the sight of the wound. She hadn't liked that case at all. Naru re-buttoned the shirt, then zipped the body bag up again.

"So, you're not…" Mai started, tears of happiness overflowing. Suddenly she ran forward and hugged Naru. "I'm so glad! I thought you were gone forever! I'll make you as many cups of tea as you want!" Naru looked at her, surprised and unsure of how to react. So he did what he normally does.

"Which house collapsed?" Naru asked, ignoring Mai.

Monk pointed to the house. Naru was also ignoring Ayako, who was checking him for injuries, but having a hard time with Mai wrapped around him.

"I wasn't in that house."

"Naru, why did the ghost pretend you were…dead?"

"It focuses on our fears. Evidently at least one of you feared me dying."

Mai blushed into Naru's shirt. _Opps… I suppose that would be me…_

"Where did you go?"

"I found something interesting in the report and went to check some things."

"Wait, if that's not your body, then whose is it?"

"No-ones. It's just a doll of me. Mai, stop hugging me."

"I'm just glad that you're not dead!"

"Then show it some other way then getting my way."

She let go of him, muttering under her breath.

"Stupid narcissist jerk who-"

"Did you find what you wanted?"

"-has no feelings and doesn't care-"

Naru shook his head. "I had just started reading when I got locked in and the house collapsed."

"-about anyone other then himself and drinks-"

"I need to go back, but I destroyed the study door getting out."

"-too much tea and is always grumpy!" Mai finished.

"Mai. I have just been locked in a room by a ghost for a few hours while a house outside collapsed, I thought you were injured, or worse, and when I finally got out of the study I go to the kitchen to ask Hara-san starts crying. Then I find you and everyone thinks _I'm_ dead and a ghost, then I had to prove that I was actually alive." He was getting quicker and quicker as he went on, his eye twitching. By the end he was glaring at her. Everyone stared at him. He ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. "Mai, tea."

Mai stormed off.

"Bou-san, go with her." He nodded and left after her.

"Naru, what should we do with the body?"

"We should probably burn it. How many more people do I need to prove to I'm not dead?"

"Ah, well, I dunno… Ryuu should probably know."

Naru nodded, then turned to go to base. He sank into his chair gratefully. He was tired, and the ghost probably still had plans for them. Today had certainly been one of the most hectic days in his life. What with him getting locked in, the house collapsing, Mai screaming his name like blue murder, Mai getting sedated, everyone thinking he was dead… He had been worried sick about Mai, though he hated to admit it. But now the danger and worry was gone, leaving only tiredness and a lot of work.

Mai brought in his tea and looked at him worriedly. And he still had to explain to the woman about her door, read the records and cleanse the wants ghost. Which he could name. He drank the tea, but it brought no relief. He had probably worn himself out trying to break the door and window and running around the inn obviously hadn't helped.

"Naru?"

"What?"

"Do you want anything?"

"Go to sleep."

"What?"

"Mai, you were delirious earlier. You need to calm down and sleep."

_"I _need to calm down? Says the person who was ranting earlier. And anyway, it's only 4 pm!_"_

"That makes no difference."

"Come on Naru, admit it, you were worried about her." Ayako said. _There's no way he can wriggle out of this one, we all saw the look on his face when he opened the kitchen door._

"Of course I was."

Mai gaped. _What? Naru was worried about me?_

"I don't have time to deal with all the paperwork that I would need to deal with if Mai died. I have more important things to do."

Mai narrowed her eyes and glared at the Naru's head. _Stupid jerk who only thinks only about himself…_

* * *

**Yes, Naru went a bit OOC, but on the other hand, he was tired, angry, iratated, peeved, pissed off, relieved, and exhausted all at once. Even Naru's gotta break some time.  
Sorry for almost killing him, but it was necessary (and fun to write). And at long last, maybe he will actually realise his feelings for Mai... though he is rather dense on that subject...**

**But anyway, don't hate us! we promise we will try not to do anything to dramatic again... at least for a while... well, a little bit anyway. Meh, promises are made to be broken**

Sorry for giving you a heart attack ():) *looks sheepish* 


	36. 6 Fears & Desires part 8

Fears and Desires, Part 8

Fire and Water

Mai had ignored Naru's order to sleep, and had instead had joined in a game of Go, but quickly got bored as it had soon turned into and Ayako vs. Monk fight.

"Naru, what should we do now?" She asked. There was no reply from the figure in the chair. "Naru?" She went over. Naru was lying back in his chair, eyes closed. She panicked for a split second, but heard his breathing; it was steady and even. She smiled at the sleeping teenager. _Sometimes I get the feeling that he isn't human, but at times like this I remember that he's only a year older than me and human. He must be pretty worn out if he's sleeping on the job. Only half an hour ago he was explaining to us how he wasn't dead, and that it wasn't his body in the body bag…_

She left base and returned with a blanket which she spread over Naru. When she turned around to go back to the sofa she noticed that Monk and Ayako had finished their fight.

"Mai, where did you get a blanket from?"

"It's an inn. They have all sorts of stuff in the rooms."

They all stared at the back of Naru's chair.

"He gave us a fright earlier, didn't he?"

"When he burst into the kitchen, I was sure I was going mad or something…"

"Same. I thought I had imagined it until I realised everyone else saw it too…"

"Oh, yeah. We need to tell Ryuu, don't we? And dispose of the doll."

Mai stood up and Monk, Ayako and Yasuhara followed her. They collected the body bag, and then went about searching for Ryuu. They found him by the remains of the house. Ryuu eyed the body bag as they walked up.

"Um, Ryuu-san, do you know where we could light a big bonfire without anything dangerous happening?"

"Don't you want him properly cremated?"

"He's not dead, this is just a doll of him." Ryuu looked even more confused.

"What?"

"It wasn't his body in the wreckage. The ghost made a doll of him and put it there. Naru is alive and currently asleep." Ryuu still looked confused, but there was a spark of understanding. "We need to burn the doll of him. Where could we do that?"

"There's a place by the edge of the village where we light bonfires sometimes. There's a big pile of ash there." Mai nodded.

"Thank you. Where the children okay?"

"Yeah, all of them were unharmed."

They nodded and set off, everyone turned to watch, but for once no one followed. For that they were thankful, it would be hard to explain, though they knew they would have to some time to explain how a dead body got up and walked. They reached the clearing and started gathering wood, anything that would burn. Eventually they made the pile big enough and placed Naru's body on top. They hesitated.

"Even though I know it's not him, I can't bring myself to light it." Monk said, staring at the body.

"Can't we burn it in the body bag?" Mai asked.

"We don't want the plastic to melt all over their clearing. And it seems wrong to waste a perfectly clean body bag." Ayako explained.

"I know, but…" The others nodded.

"Maybe it would help if we said goodbye?" Yasuhara suggested, and climbed the pile. He patted un-Naru's shoulder. He climbed back down.

"Did it?"

"Sort of…" They nodded and moved up the pile. Ayako bent down and swiftly hugged him, Monk also patted his shoulder and Mai bent down and gently kissed his forehead.

"Well, then I guess…"

Monk poured petrol over the heap while Yasuhara lit it. They watched the blaze.

* * *

Naru sat up, and the warm thing covering him fell off, letting cool air bite him. _What?_ He looked down. _I'm pretty sure I didn't go to sleep with a blanket on me… Mai…_

"You didn't have to be so cruel." Naru looked up. Lin was watching him carefully. There was no one else in base. He scowled. There was a pause.

"She was screaming so much she had to be sedated." He reminded him, which just made him scowl even more.

"We all thought you were dead," With that Lin turned back to his computer and carried on typing like he had never said anything. Naru didn't move. _I was cruel? _He thought back to when she had hugged him and he had shaken her off. _Why did I say that? And then the thing about paperwork, why couldn't I just admit I was worried about her? Anybody would be, if they thought she might have died._ _I guess I was just tired. _Naru bent down and picked the blanket up before throwing it at the empty couch, standing up to take off his coat, which he had forgotten to take off earlier.

He checked the monitors, but neither ghost seemed to be active. Masako and John he could see through the library window, and Monk, Mai, Ayako and Yasuhara were walking back from burning the body, Monk carrying an empty petrol carton. He waited, and sure enough, a few minutes later they walked into base. He noticed their furtive glances towards him.

"So now we just have to get rid of the ghosts. Which one first?" Monk asked Naru.

"The fears ghost. They are battling, and if we cleanse the wants ghost first we will be giving the fears ghost full reign. It would be much harder to get rid of him when the wants ghost is gone."

"Do we know who they are?"

"The wants ghost is a woman named Ibuke Etsumi. She lived in this village approximately 50 years ago. Due to bad luck, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up involved in a gang."

Mai remembered her dream. _So it was her…_

"The gang blew up some of the village, killing 7 and injuring about 20. The woman felt that it was her fault because she hadn't told the police about the gang. We know that from Mai's dream." Naru paused.

"What happened to her?" Monk asked.

"She told the police about the gang, who started arresting members. The gang leader, a man named Kataoka Waku, realised that the woman had told on them. That night he went to her house and strangled her. A few hours later, Kataoka was arrested. He died a week later. Ibuke stayed on to satisfy people's wants and make them happy to make up for not telling the police sooner."

"What about the fears ghost?"

"Most likely, Kataoka."

Everyone was silent.

"Why is he staying on then?" Mai asked.

"To spite Ibuke. He's scaring people so that Ibuke won't feel like she has made up for not telling the police earlier. He's punishing her for telling on him." Said Naru in a tone that, as usual, implied that Mai was stupid. Only Naru caught the glance from Lin, but he ignored it.

"Oh well _thank you, _mister I-Think-I-Know-Everything." Said Mai sarcastically.

Naru turned to look at the monitors.

"Did it burn?" He asked.

"Hm?"

"The doll. Was it destroyed?"

"Ah, well, we don't know. We didn't stay to watch it burn." Naru nodded.

"I'll go check." Naru put his coat on.

"But what if something happens? Like last time?" Mai asked.

"I doubt it. Kataoka will probably have to recharge a little before launching another attack." He quickly left before anyone else could try to stop him. He didn't actually need to check whenever it was destroyed or not, but he was glad of the time alone, away from Lin's disapproving glances. _Kataoka is normally too strong to exorcise without someone getting hurt, and judging from what Ibuke told me she is getting weaker, meaning that if we don't do something soon Kataoka will have no-one opposing him. If that happens, then he could actually kill someone this time. I want to have Ibuke cleansed but we can only do that after Kataoka is gone. _He noticed a few villagers staring at him as he walked past. _At least some people know I'm not dead. Thank god Lin hadn't called Madoka or my parents. It would be annoying explaining it to them over the phone. I understand why he put the calls off. _

In front of him there were the remains of a bonfire. There was no sign of the doll, just as he expected. He stayed there for a few more moments.

_Ibuke seems to have given our wants a rest. She's probably storing her energy or focusing on someone else. She has, hopefully, stopped giving Mai her wants. I should just be glad they were things like 'sorry' and 'thank you', not anything like wanting to kiss me. _

He was walking back slowly. On his left there was the lake which Masako had been dragged into, its surface completely smooth, like a mirror. Wasting some more time wouldn't hurt him. He went and squatted next to the water edge. The water was peaceful, and there was what sounded like faint birdsong coming from the trees. He looked down at the black water. You couldn't see how deep it was, but Naru knew that it would be quite deep. He could see his reflection perfectly, and he looked at it. All was still for another moment.

Then his reflection smiled at him.

Naru knew he wasn't smiling.

* * *

Lin sighed. Damn his young charge for being so stubborn, and although he was clever- he had to give Naru that- he was completely unaware of other people's feelings. Lin doubted he was aware of half of his _own _feelings. Such people like Naru were, sometimes it seemed the most intelligent people were the least emotionally intelligent, and Naru was no exception.

Mai was grumpy over the fact that Naru had thrown her blanket, which she had graciously put on him when he was asleep, at the sofa. She grabbed it and snuggled underneath it. Yasuhara peered at her.

"Does it smell of Naru?" He asked.

"No!" Mai yelled quickly, burying her face to hide her blush. _Does it smell of him?_ She sniffed quietly so the others wouldn't hear her. _No it doesn't… I suppose it was to be expected. _

"Poor Mai-chan! She can't smell her beloved Naru!" cried Yasuhara dramatically.

"He's not my beloved!" Mai yelled, but it was muffled by the blanket.

"Ah, the woes of poor Mai-chan! To be away from her dear Naru-chan for so long!"

"He's not my dear either! He's my boss!"

"Poor Mai-chan…" Yasuhara patted the lump that was Mai.

"Go away. Tease someone else."

"But you're so easy to tease Mai-chan!"

"Go away Yasu."

"You get worked up so easily… and you get so jealous… and you blush all the time…"

"Yasu!"

"I can understand why Naru teases you all the time…"

"He thinks I'm stupid. He doesn't tease, he mocks."

"Poor, unfortunate Mai-chan! Her life is full of woes!"

"He doesn't think you're stupid." Monk said soothingly.

"Yes he does." Mai sniffed.

Lin listened to their conversation. Naru really needed to learn about emotions. He really didn't need to be so cruel to Mai. Mai had had to be _sedated. _Naru should realise that teasing the poor girl was one day going to send someone mad. Probably Mai. Stupid, stupid Naru. Why didn't he realise that she was just glad to see him okay? Maybe he should call Madoka and complain to her. Even Naru didn't listen to him, he might listen to her.

"No, no, I can guarantee he doesn't."

"He's such a stupid narcissistic jerk!" yelled Mai, sitting up. The others seemed glad of her mood swing from sad from angry. After she was angry she would be happy again. "He never thinks of my feelings!" Lin silently agreed with that statement.

After a few more minutes Mai was back to happy again. The blanket lay at her feet, forgotten.

"Speaking of Naru, he's taking his time, isn't he?"

Mai blanched. "You don't… don't think…"

"Lin, is he on any of the monitors?" Lin quickly checked the monitors. He hadn't been looking at them while he was thinking, and now they didn't know if Naru was okay. He could have been wrong about Kataoka; he could have attacked again…

"No. The last time he was he was walking down the street to the edge of town… half an hour ago."

"We can't lose him! We only just got him back!" cried Mai, running out. Monk, Ayako and Yasuhara quickly ran after her, but by the time they were out of the inn Mai was racing down the road.

_Nothing has better happened to him, stupid jerk… why is he taking so long…? _Her breath came out in gasps as she ran. She couldn't hear the others behind her.

Mai got to the bonfire, but couldn't see him, or any signs that he had been there. Some ashes blew slightly with the wind. _Where is he? Which way would Naru go? I don't think he went via the high street… _She ran down another street, looking frantically. She frowned when she saw the lake.

"Naru!" she shouted, running closer, but he didn't show any reaction. She stopped about a meter away from him.

He was crouching by the lake, one finger lightly touching the black surface.

"Naru…" _He's not going to do anything stupid like jump in, is he?_

Again he didn't respond, he was looking intently at the water. Suddenly he scowled.

"Naru, what is it?" she asked, moving closer, but she couldn't see anything special about the lake.

* * *

**We're back from camping! And guess what, it was raining almost all of time. Sorry for the wait. **

**We just like Gene so much we had to add him as his own charcter soon! I guess he's just so likeable.  
Next chapter is full of emotion and drama! It's very fun to write ^^ though we probably should be nicer to our charcters. John and Masako are still cosey in the library, researching... Yasuhara decided to take a break, and John, being the kind person that he is, offered to take his place, and Naru sent Masako with him just so she would be out from under his feet. Tbh im not surprised he doesn't like her.  
And for Lin-san's fans he will be doing a lot of talking! well, for him.**


	37. 6 Fears & Desires part 9

Fears and Desires, Part 9

Normal?

"Mai, go away." Mai crossed her arms. Naru inwardly sighed, that was a sure sign she wasn't going to listen to him. _Why does she have to be so stubborn?_

"_Says you." _Gene's voice rang through his head. He glanced at the lake, his reflection was grinning broadly, though thankfully Mai hadn't noticed. Yet.

"_Do you think I should say hi?" _

_No._ Naru growled in his head. Gene laughed.

"Mai, go away." He repeated.

"Naru! You were gone for half an hour! We thought something might have happened to you! You weren't even on any monitors! You DIED! Remember? No way am I going back!" She gave one exasperated puff and topped her speech off with her best glare yet.

"I didn't die. We've already been through this, surely even someone with your brain capacity should get it." He said. "Mai, _go away._ I'm busy."

"Busy doing what? Staring at your reflection?"

"Mai, I mean it."

Gene chuckled. _"Maybe I should leave you two lovebirds together…"_ Naru scowled.

"Even for a narcissist that is just-" She didn't say what it was but picked up a handy rock nearby and flung it at the lake. Ripples spread out, destroying his reflection and his talk with Gene. Naru stood up.

"What did you do that for?" Mai realised that Naru's fists were clenched. _Did I really make him that mad? But I didn't do anything bad… if he's so upset about losing his reflection then it's his own fault._

"Then don't be such a narcissist!" She yelled. The usual trio of plotters and well-wishers paused in their running. If Mai was yelling like that, Naru was fine, Mai was livid, and Naru was too… maybe it wasn't such a good idea to carry on. They looked at each other, and retreated to a safe distance from them.

"You don't understand-" The air around him was reaching 0 Kelvin it was so cold, and Mai was practically crying.

"Well maybe I would if you told me something rather then treating me like the biggest idiot to walk the planet!" She screamed at him. "Okay! I don't understand! I'm not as vain as you! I don't spend hours each day staring at myself!"

Naru turned away from her and started walking back to base.

"I was talking to you, you self-centred, egotistical MORON!" She screamed after him, raising her voice so he would hear.

Naru stalked into base, almost making the plants wither as he glared at them. Lin had been waiting for him, watching his rapid progress through the monitor screens. Lin looked at Naru, hoping he didn't blow it. Naru had enough power to kill not only himself but the rest of SPR and anyone else near enough as well.

"I actually talked to him, and then she comes along and…" His teeth clenched along with his fists. Lin also spoke in English.

"Talked to who?" Lin asked, fairly surprised.

"Gene!"

"Gene?" Maybe he had attached himself to Naru as a ghost, but his shiki would have picked up on it…

"In the lake." Lin nodded. _So that's why he talks to himself in the mirror sometimes…_

"Calm down, Noll." Naru glared at him.

"God, I could-"

"Exactly. Which is why you need to calm down." Naru put his hands on the table, leaning forward.

"Oliver!" Lin snapped.

"What?"

"Control yourself. Do you want to be killed?" Naru gave him a look that clearly said 'I really don't care if I do'. "What about me? Bou-san, Ayako and Yasuhara? They're probably in the building by now." Naru didn't respond. "What about her?"

"I'd be dead too, so it wouldn't be my problem." Lin sighed. This kind of attitude was _bad._ He knew it was just the pent up anger speaking, and not him, but still…

"It would be, if _you_ killed her. Do you want her blood on your hands?" Naru closed his eyes slightly. He didn't, and he didn't want to injure the others either, even though they were annoying. He thought back to when he had burst into the kitchen and saw their faces. Something clicked. _They were grieving for me_. Lin could see his words were having some effect. He waited as Naru struggled to regain his composure.

The door opened and the usual suspects walked in. Monk and Yasuhara's mouths opened slightly and Ayako stared. Masako's mouth was covered by her kimono, but her's and John's eyes were round as saucers. Lin glanced at them.

"Where's Mai?" He switched smoothly back to Japanese.

"Err…" Monk remembered himself. "We thought she would be here…"

"So you left her on her own?" Naru had turned to look at them. Five gulps echoed round the room. Ten feet hastily moved towards the door. Once they had all left the door nearly rotted away.

"I told you to be calm." Said Lin, still in Japanese.

"I am calm." Naru struggled to stop blowing up base.

"No, you're not."

"They just left her? What do I have, a ghost hunting team, or a bunch of idiots?" Naru spoke again in English.

"They're looking for her. She'll be fine."

"She's such a trouble magnet! Ghosts just flock to her!"

"Nothings happened on the monitors. She probably just wants time to fume."

Naru dropped his head onto the table with a loud bang.

"Noll…"

"I'm fine. I'm calm. After all, I can speak to him later, can't I?" Naru's voice was drowning in sarcasm.

"Noll, be calm. You have a mirror, right?"

"She'd just smash it, saying some crap about how I'm a narcissist and I'm so vain."

"Not if she's not here." Said Lin, still in Japanese. Naru would speak Japanese when he was calmer, so Naru speaking in English was not good.

"You said she's fine, and that they're looking for her. They would bring her back to base, and she'd smash it and I thought you didn't want me to kill myself." Naru was starting to sound like a typical English teenager. "He rarely talks on cases." He added in a quieter voice.

"Then don't take so many."

"…"

"Think about everyone else. They wouldn't want you to die. Gene wouldn't. Mai wouldn't."

"She hates me."

Lin sighed again. Truly, Naru was a genius at everything except people. _I should be getting medals for this job. _He had wished a thousand times that Naru would be more normal, but now he was regretting it.

"No, she doesn't."

"Everyone seems to hate me." Naru mused quietly. Lin strained to hear his words.

"Oliver! Don't say that!" Lin shouted in English. Naru looked slightly startled at the use of his name.

"It's true, isn't it?"

"It's not true! God, of all the times, _now _is when you start acting like a normal teenager…"

"I don't have any social skills." Lin wasn't sure what was worse, livid Naru or depressed Naru.

"But not to the extreme that everyone hates you! Noll, you're a part of SPR. You can't change that."

"I'm the boss of it. That's not the same. I heard that people hate their bosses."

"Do you want me to call your parents?" This should have some effect.

Naru stood up and made for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"If I go back to England I'll save you a telephone call, but I'm not nice enough to do that."

"You can't leave! What about the case? What about Gene?"

Naru stopped walking.

"Two years. Two years I've been in this country, and still no sign. Two years I've been searching."

"That doesn't mean you can stop now!"

Naru was closer to the door.

"Oliver, you're not leaving!"

"I'm going outside."

"Where?"

"I'll just wander around a bit. Probably end up at the lake."

"Noll…"

"I won't jump in. Don't worry."

"I'll watch you through the monitors, so don't think you can do anything reckless."

Naru nodded and left, making sure to watch for the others. He didn't want to bump into them. He walked towards the lake. No sign of anyone else. He avoided looking at his reflection; he didn't want a rant from Gene either. He walked round the lake, calming himself and trying to restore his composure. He avoided looking at the inky waters, and once he'd walked round once he started walking down a small road. The sun was hanging low in the sky, giving everything a golden touch. He walked down a small alley onto a bigger road. Still no sign of the rest of SPR. Naru glared at a camera, wondering if they were all back at base. He felt calmer, but he didn't know if Mai did. Probably not. And the others probably didn't want to see him. They tended to take Mai's side.

He stepped out into the road, lost in his thoughts. He froze as he heard the car, too late. He looked up, into its headlights. He could faintly make out a woman behind the wheel, panicking. The scene was all too familiar. He watched as the car approached, too close to not hit him, paralyzed.

_This happened before… I've already experienced this…_

_Wouldn't it be ironic if I died like Gene?_

He felt the bonnet of the car slamming into him, and was knocked off his feet.

_Will she run me over again? Will she wrap my body up and throw me in a lake?_

"Naru!" _Mai?_ He could hear that the driver had turned her engine off. "Naru!" _What is Mai doing here?_

"Naru! Are you okay? Can you respond?" Another voice, _it sounds like Ayako_. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

"Shibuya-san?" _Ah, the driver._

"There's no blood. He's not dead, Mai. Calm down." Another voice, male.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, my car went out of control, I couldn't brake, and it was steering for him…"

"He's alive, and I don't think any bones are broken." He heard someone sigh with relief. Probably Mai. He fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Naru groaned. He ached all over, like he was one big bruise. No, maybe several big bruises that overlapped so he felt even worse.

"Naru?"

He prised open one eyelid, then the other. He was in a bed, and Mai was staring worriedly at him.

"Naru?" She asked again. He looked around without moving his head too much. He was in the boy's room back at the inn. Mai was the only other person in the room.

"Naru? Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, baka."

"Naru you're okay! When I saw you get hit by that car I thought you might be dead…"

"You say that every time I get hurt."

She scowled. "You do tend to hurt yourself in dramatic ways. Ayako said that you were just unconscious, so we didn't call an ambulance; we just put you in bed. The woman who was driving the car said that her car went out of control and hit you."

He remembered what happened before he got knocked out. _This ghost really doesn't like me… Why does everyone's wants or fears have something to do with me?_

"Naru? How do you feel?"

"I got hit by a car. How do you think I feel?"

"No need to be so grumpy!"

He turned so his back was to her.

"Naru?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry that I got mad at you and yelled…"

"Forget it."

"What?"

"I said forget it. Don't your ears work?"

"My ears work fine! How come whenever I apologise you throw it back in my face?"

"I overreacted. Now shut up."

Her eyebrow twitched.

"I'm going back to sleep."

"Naru! You can't go back to sleep! You just woke up!"

"I can do what I want."

"Stupid narcissist proud-"

"Moron?" He asked.

"-jerk!"

"That's a lighter form of moron. Now, shut up."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"I'm your boss, you do as I say, or you lose pay. Now _shut up_. How many times do I have to drill it into your thick skull?"

"Fine then! I'm going back to base!"

"Then go, I'll appreciate the quiet."

She stormed out of the room. _Jerk! You wait with him for three hours, and not any form of gratitude! Pity that car did nothing to his head!_ Everyone looked at her when she entered base.

"Is he awake?"

"He went back to sleep!"

"Then why are you here instead of watching him? Why are you angry?"

"He told me to go because 'I was too noisy'!"

"That sounds like Naru. He really knows how to push your buttons, doesn't he?"

"Well of course," started Yasuhara, "he is her boy-" Mai glared at him. "-ss." He finished, trying to make it seem that he had said 'boss' instead of 'boyfriend'.

"That car did nothing to his head!"

"The car didn't hit his head, Mai."

"I know! Sometimes I wish it had!"

"No, you need to think through these things. If it hit his head, it might cause his face to be squashed. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Stupid bloody ghost…"

"What time is it?"

"About midnight."

"I'm going to bed, it's late."

"Same."

They all went to bed (except Lin, he was still typing).

* * *

**Yes, the ghost does seem to be picking on Naru huh. Well, tbf almost everyone has some fear or want to do with him, even if it's '_I wish he wouldn't make me do work that makes my nails break'_ which hasn't actually featured yet, but maybe we'll sneak it in somewhere. Then again maybe not. **


	38. 6 Fears & Desires part 10

Fears and Desires, Part 10

Fearing

When Naru woke up again, dawn was shimmering through the windows. He still ached, but it wasn't as bad as before, and he doubted he would go back to sleep, so he got up. He winced as he stretched his arms and back, before washing, changing into clean clothes and going to base.

Lin looked up as he entered and gave him strange look which Naru couldn't decipher. He sat down on the chair next to Lin and watched the monitors.

"We'll get rid of the ghost today." Naru said firmly, fed up at being worried, injured, tricked, emotional and, worst of all, nice. To Mai of all people.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid because Mai goads you."

"Promise. After yesterday she probably won't anyway." He scowled as he remembered the first (and at the moment only) time he had used his full power in front of SPR.

Lin tilted his head slightly, then carried on typing. After he had checked the monitors he read his file and waited for the others to get up.

John was the first person to stumble into the base, with rings under his eyes, he claimed he couldn't sleep. He curled up on the couch and stared at the opposite wall. After that there was a gap of about an hour or so before Monk and Yasuhara made their way slowly to base, chatting loudly. Naru ignored them. Half an hour later Masako blearily wondered in, frowning slightly as Naru wasn't alone. 10 minutes later there was a loud thump followed by a groan. Naru's lips twitched. After a few more minutes Mai and Ayako came in.

"Why are the beds so far away from the floor here? And why is the floor so hard…" whined Mai sleepily. She yawned.

"If you weren't turning so much in your sleep then you wouldn't have fallen out." Snapped Ayako, who was clearly grumpy at having her sleep disturbed by Mai falling out of bed.

"It's not my fault!" Mai protested.

"Yeah, you can't really blame her for that." Monk joined in. He jumped back as she started on him.

"You keep out of this, Houshou! It wasn't _your _peaceful sleep was rudely disturbed by this klutz here!" She pointed at Mai.

"I'm not a klutz!"

"Now, calm down ladies."

"Easy for you to say! I bet you sleep-"

"Both of you, shut up." They turned and looked at Naru, who was glaring at them. "Ayako, if you're tired then go to bed. I probably won't need you for the exorcism and I don't want you making some careless mistake that could put us in danger."

Ayako looked ready to murder. "I'll be fine."

"Exorcism? We're doing it today?"

"Yes." The others nodded and wandered off to have breakfast after Monk's stomach grumbled, leaving Naru and Lin in peace and quiet.

"Aren't you going to go too?" Lin asked. Naru sighed and put down the folder.

"Alright." They got up and left too.

* * *

After eating they wandered through the village, Masako leading them. Occasionally she stopped, closed her eyes, then continued. SPR, and the small crowd of villagers that seemed to follow them whenever they went anywhere as a group, walked just behind her. A few hours passed, but nothing happened. Mai's feet were starting to ache.

"Naru, do you think he's asleep or something?"

Naru didn't respond, just carried on walking.

"Can't we have a break? I'm tired!"

"No."

Naru was thinking. _If he isn't coming out on his own, then we need to draw him out… how? I don't really want to endanger any of us; Kataoka could seriously hurt someone… Could we use Mai as bait? She's like a magnet for ghosts. _He considered it for a few moments. _No, she's too clumsy, anything could happen. _

As if the prove his point, Mai tripped over her feet, falling forwards, bouncing off Naru's back, onto the ground, where her still slightly sore bottom took most of the impact.

"Ow… that hurt… Naru can't we have a rest?"

He turned to look at her. "Mai, if you want to rest then go back to inn, and if you do then take Ayako with you."

"I'm not going back to the inn!" cried Ayako.

"Then no rest. We have work to do."

Mai stood up and wilted. Monk patted her back.

"It's not so bad Mai-chan. At least you got a lot of sleep."

"I'm still tired… after all, who spent 3 hours waiting alone with someone in case they would wake up, when I could have been in base talking with the others and having fun." She seethed, glaring at Naru's back.

"Then why didn't you go back to base?" asked Naru, smirking.

"Ungrateful arrogant jerk…" She muttered under her breath so only Monk heard her. He grinned.

"But we love him really, don't we!" Sang Yasuhara. "Right, Mai?"

Mai muttered something under her breath and glared at the bespectacled teen. He grinned broadly and moved onto annoying Ayako.

"We're almost there…" Masako said quietly. The others hurried to catch up with her. She paused on the corner of the street.

"It's like he knows, and is running away…" She led them down the same street for the third time.

"This is a waste of time." Monk complained.

They carried on walking up and down the street.

"He keeps running away from us…" Masako muttered. After another few minutes they stopped and looked at Naru to see what they should do.

_Why is he running away from us? Before he was practically running into us and our fears. Of course! That's why he won't come. But if we do manage to do it, will he fall for it?_

Naru looked at SPR.

"Aren't any of you scared?"

"Scared?"

"Why would we be scared?"

_Just as I thought. And Ibuke isn't strong enough to help us…_

"You should be scared. We've only seen a small measure of Kataoka's power. He's getting stronger. He's probably strong enough to kill at least one of us, if not more."

SPR shared worried glances. Mai paled a little bit. _And he focuses on our fears… _She eyed Naru. _He won't actually kill him, will he?_ She found herself wanting Kataoka to stay away from Naru.

Masako gasped. "Naru, he's coming!"

"John, Bou-san, are you ready?"

They both nodded.

A wind started up. A few villagers clung onto their hats.

"He's here!"

Monk moved forwards and started chanting his mantra, but it had no effect. Mai watched the scene with wide eyes. The ghost grinned broadly. It didn't react at all to Monk.

"It's not working…" She muttered. Naru watched her from the corner of his eye. She shook her head as if clearing unwanted thoughts away.

_What if he doesn't go? What if he hurts someone?_ She gulped as he turned his eyes on her, and edged closer to Naru.

_What if someone gets injured? I said myself he was strong. What is he hurts Mai, she's such a danger magnet._ Naru's thoughts turned to the girl next to him, and he subconsciously moved closer to her.

Without warning the ghost moved towards, just a step. She gulped again, and moved backwards. She felt strange, like all her senses were on overdrive. She took another step backwards, but tripped on the curb, landing on her unfortunate bottom again. The ghost's attention was riveted on Mai.

"Mai! He's going for you!" Masako yelled as Kataoka pounced forward.

"Naumaku san bazaradan kan!" Monk suddenly chanted. Kataoka stopped a few steps away from Mai. Mai just sat there, staring at the ghost, which was grinning horribly at her.

"On kirikiri bazara bajiri hora manda manda un hatta, on amirito dohanba un hatta, on biso hora daraki shabezara hanjara un hatta, on asan magini un hatta, on shaugyarei makasan maen sowaka!" Kataoka snarled, but didn't move away from Mai.

_He's focusing on her… why? He's not going to kill her, is he? _Kataoka moved slightly closer to Mai, his smile returning. Mai whimpered in fear. _It's because we fear him hurting her…_

_If we fear him moving on, will he do so? No, he can't be that stupid… _

Kataoka was right in front of her. Straining, he slowly reached forwards towards her. Frozen, she felt icy fingers wrap around her neck as she was lifted up.

_It's worth a try._

He signalled to Lin, and told him, and so the message got passed round.

"Mai, try to fear surviving." He called.

"Fear surviving? Are you crazy?" She screamed. The fingers tightened, and she was having trouble breathing. John was praying reverently for her to die, while Monk had stopped chanting.

"He'll do what you fear."

Mai understood. _Okay… I'm suicidal… I'm suicidal… _the fingers round her throat didn't loosen. _I want to die… I'm scared of surviving… I'm scared… Scared… The world is so harsh; I'm scared of going back there… Kataoka, please kill me, I'm so scared of surviving… _It was odd trying to be suicidal, but the fingers loosened just a bit, and Mai sucked at the air, the fingers tightened again. She couldn't breathe, and it hurt so much. _Hurts… too much… _The pain intensified as there was less oxygen, and her throat burned. _I'm going to die… it hurts so much. I just want the pain to end. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE! _Tears fell down her face as she screamed. _If he stops it will hurt too much._ She shuddered thinking of the bruises she'd have, and the pain they'd cause. Kataoka let go of her neck, and she plunged to the tarmac. Mai's bum was going to be seriously bruised by the end of the exorcism.

She gasped and choked, clutching at her neck, still feeling the fingers. It felt like she was on fire, and every breath was dousing her with water. Everyone hesitated, they didn't want her to be chocked again, but they wanted to help her.

The ghost hovered there, not sure what to do, watching them for the next move. They wanted him gone, he could sense it, so he crossed his arms and refused to budge. John started his exorcism, but he still didn't go.

Suddenly he heard something, and looked around. Ibuke had appeared from nowhere, and was staring at him intently.

"What do _you_ want?" He snarled, scorn lacing his voice. Ibuke smiled. The air around them got colder and colder as she drew in energy.

"It's not like you can beat me." He smirked. She continued to smile.

John had stopped exorcising to watch the scene play out.

"John, Bou-san." They nodded and started to exorcise Takaoka at the same time. Lin whistled, and his five shiki elegantly raced through the air, circling the ghost. For the first time, he lost his cocky attitude, and started to look worried. Meanwhile Ibuke was glowing, as she drew in more power.

"I've waited long enough…"She said softly. Finally, she added her own energy. Everyone shielded their eyes as she glowed pure white.

She held out her hands and two streams of energy flew from her, smashing into the ghost as Lin's shiki also pierced him.

Faced with a quadruple attack he screamed, and vanished. The light left Ibuke and she disappeared too. John and Monk stopped as everyone lowered their arms from their faces. The villagers stood completely still, shocked.

"Mai!" Everyone ran towards her, she was still crumpled on the tarmac, crying and gasping. The exorcism had only taken a couple of minutes. Ayako bent down next to her and carefully raised her so she was sitting.

"How do you feel?"

"It… hurts…" Mai gasped between breaths.

"I'm afraid your neck is going to be bruised quite badly." Ayako apologised, even though it wasn't her fault. Mai nodded.

"And your lungs may ache." Mai nodded. "Come on, let's get you back." She helped her up, and they headed the shaken procession back to the inn.

* * *

**The case ends (at last! with 10 parts, it's our longest one yet). **

**so, please review, I'm always checking my inbox for emails from , and we like reviews.**

**We've also written a one-shot called Possessing Noll, which is about Gene coming to SPR (as a ghost, of course) to check on his brother, and gets annoyed that Naru and Mai aren't together yet, so he decides to take matters into his own hands. **


	39. 7 Underground part 1

Underground, Part 1

Radio

"Mai, you're late."

"I know! It was because-"

"Take equipment to the van."

Mai grumbled, but did as he said. They got in the van, Mai noticing that Naru had, once again, taken the seat by the window, probably just in case she brought another walkie-talkie. Of course she hadn't left SPR, like she would do that.

They soon got onto a motorway, speeding away from Tokyo. Mai looked through the windscreen, then at Lin. He was concentrating on driving. She looked at Naru. He was concentrating on his book. Nothing unusual. Her gaze returned to the windscreen, then lower… to the never used radio. The radio… why not?

She reached her hand out and pushed the on button, then turned up the volume. Words filled the van.

"_...I got you the milk darling."_ Mai looked at the radio suspiciously. Were they speaking in English?

"_Aww, thanks darling." _Yes, she was sure it was English.

"_Ooh, the weddings going to be just fab. I know it!" _said an actress with a squeaky voice. Mai was wondering whenever to change channel or not. But why was the radio set on an English channel?

After not understanding some more sentences, some music started playing.

"Duh de duh de duh de duh duh de duh de duh-uh" she hummed along with the music of _The Archers_. Naru nearly bashed his head against the dashboard. At least The Archers was ending. He had never liked that program, it was a bunch of people gossiping about nothing in particular in his opinion. Gene had agreed with him on that.

There were some pips on the radio next, a sure sign of the news.

"… _Good morning, I'm Sandra Williams and this is the 7am news." _Mai, stared, slightly entranced at the woman speaking English.

"Weruams…" She tried to pronounce the woman's name. Naru and Lin almost laughed.

Naru listened to the news for a few moments before concluded that there was nothing interesting. Mai got bored just as soon as he did, and quickly changed it to a popular Japanese music channel, and started singing along with a popular song that was playing. Naru quickly reached over and turned it off.

"Naru!" She protested, turning it on again. Naru turned it off, Mai turned it on, Naru turned it off, Mai turned it on…

Naru memorised his book page and put it down, then turned it off, putting his hand in front of the dial so she couldn't turn it on.

"Naru! I want to listen to music!" She said, flicking his hand.

"And I want to read. The radio is staying off."

She tugged at his hand, but to avail.

"Naru! It's so boring sitting in the van with nothing to do!"

"Then find something to do that doesn't involve noise."

"Most people can read while there is some background noise! Radio included!"

"Not while it's that loud _and _you're singing along."

"There's nothing wrong with my singing!"

Naru raised his eyebrows indicating his obvious disagreement with that statement.

"What, there isn't! Lin-san?" Lin sighed. It was like driving little children around. Really, if he wanted this, he would have become a teacher.

"Yes, Taniyama-san?"

"Is my singing that bad?" Lin paused. There was nothing wrong with her singing, that was true. On the other hand Naru was sending him glares that would make the bravest turn and run.

"No." He said carefully. Mai looked a mixture of proud and smug.

"See Naru?" Lin was worried for his personal safety, Naru looked like he was going to throttle him once they got out of the van.

"Why don't you compromise?" He said quickly, getting himself out of the argument and concentrating on the road once more. _Like Naru and Mai will ever compromise._

They bickered for a bit longer, before agreeing to turn the radio on, but have it quiet and Mai _must not under any circumstances_ sing. Lin breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

"Mai!" Naru said sharply.

"Yeah?"

"Stop humming."

"I can't help it! It's impossible not to sing along."

"Then we'll have to turn it off."

"NO!" She lunged at the radio. "Fine, I'll be quiet." She stared out the window, past Naru, who was still reading his book. A stray strand of hair fell into his eyes, but he didn't move it. It was right in front of his left eye. _How can they be so blue?_ She thought for the hundredth time. _It's such a beautiful colour… WHAT? I did NOT just think that._ She turned away from Naru. She looked at the scenery going past at the edge of the road. She stared at an oddly shaped tree as they drove passed, moving her head to continue watching it, and when they went past it she was staring at Naru again. _That hair is still there, isn't he going to move it? Though it does kind of suit him, having his hair slightly ruffled. _Without realising she had been staring at him, and as he looked up she blushed and quickly averted her eyes.

Lin smiled slightly. And then scowled when he saw the long winding queue of cars. It was completely stationary. And of course they were in between junctions. He cursed his bad luck, now he would have to stay in the same vehicle as Naru and Mai while they tried to kill each other. If only there was someone else who knew how to drive, he could retreat to the back and marvel at the silence…

Mai looked at the jam and groaned. _Great, stuck with the two biggest talkers in the world._ She thought sarcastically. The radio blared adverts, and Naru turned it off.

"Naru! We had a compromise!"

"It was playing adverts, not music."

"I still want to listen!"

"Tough."

"Naru! We're stuck in a traffic jam, and I think I'm going to die of boredom!"

"Then die quietly."

"Naru!"

"I'm reading, be quiet."

"No!"

"Mai…"

"I'll sing really loud!"

Naru ran his had through his hair and sighed.

_I wonder what his hair feels like… I bet it's soft and silky… No! Must stop thinking of Naru!_ She hit her forehead with her brow and blushed slightly. Naru wondered what she was thinking of.

"I don't need the radio to sing." Mai pointed out. Naru gave in.

"Fine." He muttered.

"Really? I won?" She grinned broadly.

"Yes." Naru scowled.

"Score! Mai, 3, Naru…"

"Thousands."

"You're not that brilliant."

"Yes I am. And you're so stupid you make it easy."

"I am not! Stupid, arrogant, narcissistic, big-headed, egotistical jerk!" She cried. Naru's lips twitched. He loved annoying her.

Meanwhile Lin was contemplating suicide. _Why can't they just get on? Normal people, when they fall in love, go out of their way to be nice…_ He sighed. He would never understand their relationship. _And when they do get on for a bit, Naru promptly annoys her by calling her stupid. Though his tactic does seem to work…_ Lin was definitely _not_ happy.

Monk's car drew level with them. Mai turned off the radio and leaned over Naru to open the window. John wound down the window in their car.

"Hello John! And Masako!" Mai called.

"Mai…" Naru started. Masako frowned slightly as she saw Mai's position, but greeted her anyway. Lin sighed (again…), really Masako should just give up. Naru just wasn't interested in her. He never guessed that Masako had given up a while ago, seeing as there was no way she could compete with Mai. She had even considered stopping blackmailing him. But that was her only way to see Naru, so she abandoned that idea.

The third party in the love triangle (though really it's a V) was still blissfully unaware of his own feelings. Though he still remembered the strange ache in his chest from the previous case, and occasionally wondered at it. That is, when his thoughts took that direction, which was rare. On the whole he had not realised yet, except for a tiny corner of his mind that had a vague idea…

"Hi Mai!" John called. Monk said something, but it was lost to the wind. "Bou-san and Ayako say hi too."

"Mai, move." Naru interrupted John and Mai's animated conversation (I couldn't be bothered to write it).

"What?"

"Move." He gave her a bug-eyed, annoyed look.

"Oh, er, right. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly, while blushing. "Now how am I supposed to talk?"

"I believe using your mouth is the common method." She glared at him.

"It's your own fault for sitting next to the window _again_." She prodded his arm, frowning.

"Correction, it's you fault for starting the conversation. You could have been quiet like everyone else."

"Most people are not quiet! They talk!" Mai protested.

Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Can we swap seats?" Mai asked, hope lighting up her eyes.

"Swap seats." Naru repeated, at once seeing all the problems that would entail.

"Please?" She pleaded. He sighed.

"Fine, but will you _then_ not sing, not have the radio and not lean across me?"

"Sure!"

He undid his seatbelt, and she followed suit. Mai hesitated, but Naru wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her onto his lap. At the same time he slid onto the seat in the middle, then deposited her on his other side. He buckled up and continued reading as though nothing had happened.

"Mai, you look like a tomato." John commented, as three out of the four people in Monk's car laughed.

They arrived 2 hours later outside a large, grey building. The others were already there, waiting for them, along with the man who had come to the office three days ago, Nonomura Fuyuki.

"Ah, welcome Shibuya-san." Fuyuki bowed. Naru, of course, didn't bow back.

"I am the manager. I am here to give you a tour, as it is easy to get lost. We also have maps for you…" He led them inside and gestured to the receptionist.

"This is-"

"You can call me Okimi-san. If you need anything, you can always ask." She bowed. She was a pleasant looking woman of about 30 dressed in a simple work outfit. She flipped through some papers on her desk, and handed them each a map.

"Naru! This is a… a mine!" Ayako's eyes widened.

"Yes."

"You expect me to go down there, where it's all dusty and dirty, and creepy and dark!"

"Yes."

"Actually most of the mine that is safe is painted, and there are lights…" Okimi-san said.

"That's not the point." Ayako muttered. Fuyuki, who looked amused, led them through the building.

"We put your rooms next to each other. There is also a room you could use for your base, if you wish." He pointed to the rooms doors, then led them down the corridor, down some stairs and along more corridors and through more rooms. Eventually they got outside, and went into a smaller building.

Fuyuki flicked the lights on, revealing a large lift that dominated the room. By the door there were a couple of big boxes containing helmets, and 4 sets of hooks with head torches slung over them. Each person picked a torch and helmet, and put the lights on the helmet, and said helmet on the head before waiting before the lift. There was a few minutes of commotion as SPR struggled to find a hat that fit Masako's tiny head, but Fuyuki pulled out a child's helmet and handed it to her.

Mai felt a raising apprehension as she walked towards the lift. She eyed it nervously. Another man who was on duty in the building slide open the lift door for them, and they piled in, Mai last, with her eyes closed.

"Mai, what are you doing?" Naru asked, confused by her strange behaviour.

"Don't. Like. Lifts." She said, eyes firmly closed.

"It's alright Mai-san." Fuyuki smiled kindly at her. "This lift is perfectly safe. It can carry much more then seven slim people. And me. Make sure you keep all fingers inside the cage, we don't want anyone to get hurt, do we?" He said and nodded to the man, who shut the door. Mai cringed, and moved to the middle of the group, so she didn't have to see the actual lift itself. She did not see how a wire cage, however thick the wire was, could hold that much weight.

"It's alright, they wouldn't let us on if it wasn't safe." Monk patted her head.

"I know, I know, it's just…" she trailed off.

"Okay, going down." The man warned, before pulling a leaver. Mai grabbed her head, she felt sick. It was going too fast.

"Can't it go any slower?" She asked, unknowingly edging closer to Naru.

"I'm sorry, there's only one speed." He smiled apologetically. They reached the bottom and Mai lurched out.

"I feel sick…"

They were in a whitewashed tunnel. It was wide, about as wide as the average road, and there were still old metal tracks set in the floor, which looked like concrete. The light bulb was bare, and the wires ran along the ceiling, encased in red, green and yellow plastic. Further down, the tunnel forked.

"See! Look at that! Dirty and dirty and dirty. Not to mention the uneven floor…" Ayako carried on and on.

"Bou-san, make her shut up." Mai pleaded after Ayako continued complaining for 10 solid minutes.

"Er, why are you asking me? What do you expect me to do?"

"Anything. She'll listen to you."

"Why will she listen to _me_?"

"Well, let's see, it may have something to do with the fact that you snogged her in the last case!" Both Monk and Ayako suddenly found their shoes very interesting, but at least Ayako didn't say anything. They avoided each other for the rest of the tour.

* * *

**New case :D Aww, Ayako and Monk are so sweet. Don't worry, Naru's blissful state of unknowing will shatter sometime. Fairly soon probably. **


	40. 7 Underground part 2

Underground, Part 2

Pens

"If it's in the mine itself we will be closer to the activity…"

"Yes, but we will also be underground, with little or no communication if anything happens…"

"Though if it's up here, Lin-san will be separated, and won't be able to help…"

"But if it's down there no one will ever be separated."

"If it's down there how will Mai get Naru's tea?"

SPR sat in the boys room, debating whether to have their base in the mine or in the main building, next to were they were sleeping.

"Could we have both? A kind of upstairs one and a downstairs one?"

"That's true. And then during the day we could use the underground base, and in the evenings when we're above ground we still have camera feed."

"Are we decided?" Naru asked. It had been obvious to him from the start that that was what they should do, but he knew SPR would never agree until they came to the same conclusion themselves. They nodded. Everyone grabbed equipment and they headed for the lift.

After setting up base in the mine Lin set up camera connections on the other computer in the base in the main building. Then they awaited the coming of the one and only, Yasuhara. Who was shown in by an amused Fuyuki. After all the usual greetings, he told them what he had found.

"Okay, so the mine opened in 1793 but of course, being no workers rights, several people have been killed in collapsing roofs, gas explosions, dynamite mishandlings, support beams breaking, gas, falling into shafts… you name it, they've died from it. There have been a couple of bigger incidents: for example one time, in 1831, a third of the mine flooded, killing a hundred people. The mine closed in 1925, and then it was opened for tourists after the war. However people kept on disappearing, about 16 people, so it was closed for tourists. It opened again when iron ore* was discovered nearby, but most of the mine is not in use."

"It could be anyone…" Ayako sighed.

"No trees here, so it's not like you have to do any work…" Monk grumpily replied. "It's all gonna be left to the professionals."

"And I'm not a professional?"

"Er… no? Let's face it, you've only exorcised one time!"

"Are you saying I'm useless? It's not _my_ fault there are no suitable trees!"

"Hey, you said it, not me."

"How dare you!"

"Break it up, break it up!" Yasuhara sang, eyes darting mischievously from one to the other.

"It's like being in a primary school…" Mai mused. Lin raised his eyebrows. _Says her._ Though he had to admit she was right. He thought longingly of the days when Naru will be 18, and he didn't have to stay with him anymore… Except that Madoka would kill him if he left Naru unguarded… Damn it.

"We are actually here to work, surprising though it may seem. Ayako and Hara-san, if you would ask Nonomura-san to show you round the safe parts of the mine. Bou-san, go with them. Now that we are all here, we should go to underground base." Naru led the way to the lifts, as Ayako and Masako went to find Fuyuki.

By the time they got back the rest of SPR had already donned helmets and lights and were waiting patiently, or not so patiently in some cases, for them to arrive. Soon they were all in the lift again.

"I should get someone to teach you how to operate this, so you don't have to always ask." Fuyuki gestured to the controls inside the lift.

"I already know how to operate it…" Naru muttered.

"Really? I knew you'd be a fast learner. Okay, then show me." Fuyuki didn't seem too surprised. Naru stepped towards the controls and expertly took the lift down, as though he had lived in a mine all his life.

"Good. That saves me time. Do you know how to take her back up as well?" Naru nodded. "Right. And these controls control the lift externally, in exactly the same way." Fuyuki put his hand on another set of controls.

"Is there some other way out?" John asked nervously.

"Not one that safe. There is another shaft nearby, but it's been blocked and all other shafts are either far away or in the unsafe zone." Naru headed towards base.

"No emergency stairs…?"

"Hummm, yes, there." Yasuhara had been studying the map.

"That's far away!"

"Well the lift's not exactly gonna break, is it?"

Mai glanced at the sliding doors that covered the lifts shaft nervously.

"The lift is completely safe Mai-san." Fuyuki assured her, before taking Ayako, Masako and Monk in the opposite direction to the one Naru was heading in. She ran to catch up with him, Lin, Yasuhara and John. She didn't want to be left alone here, it was creepy.

The base was a bit further on from the fork, a room off the road on the left. Next to the door there was a window which looked onto the road. It was whitewashed, and also had a bare bulb in the middle of the ceiling. There must have been a loose connection somewhere, as it kept flickering. There was a wooden table, where they had set the equipment, and a matching wooden chair, which Lin sat on. A couple of armchairs and some other wooden chairs had been found and placed in a circle in the middle of the room. Mai shuddered; it felt cold and empty, though it was quite warm in the mine.

"Are you okay?" John asked.

"Yeah, just this room… it feels strange…"

"Apparently it was the foreman's office, and he was not a nice guy usually. While researching I read lots of accounts of the foremen not checking the dynamite and overworking their workers and stuff…"

"I wonder who that reminds me of…" Mai smiled.

"Yeah, Naru-chan is like our own foreman!" Yasuhara grinned.

"In his own foreman's office!" Mai grinned back.

"But Naru hasn't killed anyone…" John reminded them.

"That's true. But he _is_ making Mai-chan into his slave." Lin smiled as Naru frowned.

"So, Foreman-Naru, what do we do now?" Mai asked a scowling Naru.

"Tea."

"But how am I supposed to make tea?" Naru pointed to a box sitting on a chair. She opened it, inside were mugs, tea, a water bottle, a pot and a portable stove.

"You're joking…" Naru raised one eyebrow.

"I do not joke." _You can say that again…_Mai thought as she pulled out everything and read the instructions on the stove.

"I didn't know you like camping Naru." Yasuhara commented. Lin and Naru shared a glance.

"I don't." He thought of all the times he'd camped, searching for Gene. Every time in vain. No, he did not like camping.

"Then why do you have a camping stove?" Naru didn't reply, but carried on reading his book.

"Ne, Naru, how do you work this thing?" Mai asked, after reading the instructions again and turning it every which way. Naru sighed.

"I thought even people with barely any intelligence knew how to read." He said, making Mai flush.

"Of course I know how to read, stupid, ignorant, moron!" Naru raised an eyebrow.

"If I'm stupid, then you'll hardly want my help."

"Fine, you win, just help me please." Mai grumbled as Yasuhara snickered.

"Is anyone keeping count of Naru's score?" John asked.

"No." Was the simultaneous reply.

* * *

"Do they always argue?" Fuyuki asked Masako as Monk and Ayako had yet another argument over her abilities.

"Yes. Ayako's very argumentative."

"I heard that!"

"Good, at least we can rule out deafness in old age as one of your problems…" Monk protected his head from the blow.

"Why does he always provoke her if he knows she's going to hit him?" Fuyuki asked, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"I generally wonder the same thing…"

_Luckily, we're almost done_ Fuyuki winced as Monk said something which caused her to hit him again. They were at the fork. Masako had sensed several spirits, but couldn't be sure which one was to blame. They turned the corner. Mai's angry voice floated down to them, carrying the usual string of insults. Naru replied, causing Mai to shout again.

"Do they always argue as well?" Fuyuki asked, not sure anymore whether there was anyone normal in this group.

"Yes." Masako scowled. Fuyuki glanced at her.

Yasuhara laughed loudly, as Naru and Mai continued to argue over something.

"Alright, alright, it's a bit stiff…" He said. Suddenly the window was flung open, hitting Monk in the face as Ayako hit him on the back of his head. He groaned. Yasuhara's head popped out the window.

"Bou-san! I'm so sorry…" He said, evidently trying not to laugh. John and Mai came out the door to inspect the damage. Monk was holding his face, while Ayako was falling apart laughing, and Masako giggled behind her kimono sleeve. Fuyuki smiled slightly.

"Bou-san? Are you alright?" John helped him up.

"My nose hurts…" He said, hiccupping. Mai giggled. Naru came out, his most disapproving look on his face, and even Lin went to the doorway and smiled.

There was a sizzling noise.

"Mai, the water." Naru reminded her, and she dashed back in to rescue the tea. Soon everyone, including Fuyuki (who had somehow been drawn into the group, courtesy of one Yasuhara and his own curiosity) was sitting round the portable stove, drinking tea.

"So how long have you known each other?" He asked John.

"Well, our first case together was about a year and half ago, except for Yasuhara, who joined us about a year ago. And Mai was with SPR for longer, I guess, seeing as Naru has always called her Mai. Same with Lin-san."

"Actually I joined the same time you did." Mai had been listening in on the conversation.

"Oh… But then, how long have you known Naru for?"

"Since the case at my school."

There was a pause.

"Wasn't that the first we all did together?"

"Yep."

"So… Naru stopped honorifics with you straight away? Isn't that rude?"

"Well, I am his assistant…"

"So? Naru, what have you got to say for yourself?"

Naru just shrugged.

"No, it's okay! I don't mind, really!"

"Mai, you deserve better!"

"That sounded like something Madoka would say…"

"Madoka? Who's Madoka?" Fuyuki asked, seriously hoping that she wouldn't be as crazy as the rest of them, and if she was, she wasn't coming.

"She's Naru's teacher!"

"More like was Naru's teacher."

"Hara-san, did you sense any spirits?" Naru broke through the conversation.

"There are a lot of spirits, but I think they're just weak ones that don't know how to move on. I couldn't sense any powerful ones."

Evening came, and the ghosts hadn't made any move to let SPR know that they were there. They went back up in the lift. They all sat in base, not tired enough to go to sleep. Monk said that he was going to the village shop for souvenirs, and 10 minutes later he came back with a grin and a small plastic bag.

"Mai-chan I brought a gift!"

"For me?"

He pulled out a pen and handed it to her. She read the writing on it.

"Why does it say 'The Slave'?"

"Because your Naru's slave, and I thought it appropriate. I got one for you too, Naru-chan!" Naru looked unimpressed, and even more so when he saw the pen.

"Naru, what does it say?" Mai asked.

"'The Boss'."

"I've got one for Ayako too…" He said handing her a pen. She read it, then turned red and immediately started hitting him.

"What does it say?" Yasuhara asked, between whacks.

"Special Granny." Monk said grinning while he shielded himself.

"Sometimes I wonder if he is one of those people who enjoy pain…" John winced with every blow.

"What, a masochist?"

"Yeah…"

"Thanks Bou-san!" Mai hugged him when it was safe.

"Think of it as a sort of make up for going in the lift."

"But that's not your fault." Mai pointed out.

"But how can we all stay cheerful when our little Mai-chan is upset?"

"Did we get any?" Yasuhara asked. Monk grinned again and dug in the bag. He handed one to John.

"The laid back one?"

"Yeah, the others weren't so good, but I thought seeing as I was getting Naru-chan and Mai one…"

"Thanks!" John smiled and pocketed the pen.

"And this one's for Lin!" Lin stopped typing and looked at Monk wearily.

"It's alright, it's not offensive. Here." Lin read the pen and smiled.

"Thank you, Takigawa-san."

"The worker." Mai read over his shoulder. Monk dug again and handed a pen to Masako.

"The star." She smiled at Monk. "Thanks, Bou-san!"

"And mine… cool dude." He said smiling.

"What about me?" Yasuhara jumped in front of Monk.

"Oh yeah!" He pulled out the last pen. Yasuhara read it. No reaction, he just stared.

"Yasuhara?" John asked.

"And this is what you think of me, after I declared my undying love for you!" He started to laugh.

"What is it?"

"The monster."

* * *

***We weren't sure if you get iron ore in mines, but the metal is irrelevant. **

**A less dangerous case this time. At least, for several SPR members... Though, I guess it doesn't really matter how dangerous it is no one ever dies... well, not properly dies anyway ^^ i mean, the most likely person to die is Mai and she's got Naru who isn't afraid to put himself in danger for her... really, how can he be so thick? Tut tut. I guess it's our fault...**


	41. 7 Underground part 3

Underground, Part 3

Family

"_Mai~" _

"_Naru!"_

_Dream Naru laughed._

"_You're always so happy to see me."_

"_Well, why wouldn't I be?" Mai sounded slightly offended._

"_I'm not complaining, it's nice. I wasn't trying to make you sound like a bad person or something."_

"_Naru, why did you take a case in a mine?"_

"_Because it was interesting. I have a dream to show you."_

"_Yeah, as always. You're always working." _

_He laughed again, but then he faded away, leaving Mai in the dream._

_She was walking down one of the tunnels in the mine, along with several others. They were following a young lady, who was talking about the mine and its history. Mai was at the back of the group. She noticed a plaque on the wall and stopped for a few moments to read it. She was about to go back to the group when she heard a noise._

_What was is it? It sounded like children, a quick babble of their voices. _

_The group was almost at the end of the tunnel, but if she ran she would catch them up in almost no time. She turned to go. The noise must have been her imagination. _

_Then it came again, but clearer._

_She heard some young children, talking, just a quick mutter of their voices. _

_No, she couldn't have been imagining it. But children? What were they doing here, in this mine? Maybe they had got lost or something. _

_She turned again, but this time so she was facing away from the group. She couldn't hear their guide's voice anymore, they were too far away._

_Before Mai got a chance to see what was in front of her, she woke up._

At breakfast, Mai told everyone else of her dream.

"You heard children?"

"Yes, they were talking."

"You didn't hear what they were talking about?"

"No, I just heard snatches of their voices."

"Yasuhara, did any children go missing?"

"No, not really. I think a teenager went missing, but they were the youngest."

After breakfast Naru drove the lift down into the mine, and they all went to base.

"Mai, tea." There had been no activity yet on the monitors.

Mai put the water in the pan and placed it on the stove, then looked at the dials.

"Er, Naru, how do you work this thing again?"

"I showed you yesterday."

"Yeah, but I can't remember."

He sighed. "Look at the instructions."

Mai searched the box.

"Has anyone seen the instructions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Naru, I can't find the instructions!"

He went over.

"This time, remember." She nodded and he took the pan off the stove. "First, you don't have anything on the stove when you light it."

She huffed. Everyone (minus Masako) watched, amused.

"Then you turn this one half way…"

"Yeah, I got that!"

"Then why didn't you do it?"

"Because I couldn't remember the rest. No need to act like I'm stupid."

"But you are." He said, turning another dial.

"I'm not stupid! I won't make you any tea now!"

"But I'm making it, and you're meant to be remembering what to do. Try not to do too many things at once, it may overload your brain." He pressed a small button that clicked and the gas ignited. He watched the water start to boil.

Mai gave an angry puff and sat down in one armchair, her back to Naru.

"Aww. You two act like an old married couple!" Monk smiled wide. Almost identical death glares were sent in his direction.

"We do not!" Mai protested turning several shades of red at once. Yasuhara snickered.

"Just think, for red nose day, we won't have to buy Mai a red nose, we can just tease her!" He grinned.

"You guys are all horrible." She said, turning away and putting her nose in the air.

"Mai-chan! Don't be mad at us!"

"Humph!" She said, smiling. Omiki walked into the base.

"Fuyuki-senpai sent me to check that everything is okay." She said smiling at them.

"Yes." Naru said stiffly, before continuing to read the thick file Yasuhara had placed in front of him containing all the accounts of death in the mine.

"Er, right."

"What he means to say is 'Yes, _thank you,_ Omiki-san'." Mai said, giving Naru a pointed look. He glared at her.

"Er, right…" She said, looking between Naru and Mai.

"Don't worry, they're always like that." John reassured her.

"Oh. You know, I always expected ghost hunters to be older… like 50 year olds who refuse to let go of old superstitions."

"Most people say that."

"Well, you do look very young…"

"Well, except for Ayako…" Monk mused, quickly shielding himself from attack.

"…"

"They're also always like that." John smiled at her.

"Wait, you're... Brown John? The priest?" She asked. Closing her eyes and tilting her head as she tried to remember his name.

"Yes! Though, it's really John Brown."

"Brown is strange first name…"

"No, no, in Australia they say the first name first and surname second." He smiled at her again.

"And the red head is Mitsuzake-san? And her boyfriend is Takigawa-san." Omiki said, pointing to the people in the room.

"Er, not really, well, yes they are, but they're not… together…" John explained not very coherently as Ayako blushed and Monk looked embarrassed.

"But, Fuyuki-senpai said…"

"No, no, Fuyuki-san made a mistake!" Monk explained nervously. Yasuhara and Mai laughed.

"And you must be Shibuya-san!" She said, addressing Lin.

"Actually he's Shibuya-san…" John gestured to Naru, who looked annoyed.

"Oh, er, sorry Shibuya-san." She said smiling innocently.

"So that leaves Masako, Mai, Yasuhara and Lin-san." Said Monk, who was amused by the look on Naru's face.

"Er… I don't know… Masako and Mai?" She said, pointing to the wrong people. Everyone (minus the usual suspects and Masako) laughed.

"No no, I'm Mai!" Mai said, pointing to herself.

"Oh, sorry, Mai-san, Masako-san" She said, bowing politely.

"It's alright Omiki-san. Please call me Mai." She said smiling. Naru sighed inwardly. _She's going to make another friend, and then there's going to be even more noise…_

"And I'm Yasuhara Osamu. The one that never speaks is Lin-san." Yasuhara jumped up, excited at the prospect of new entertainment.

Soon Omiki was chatting with the Yasuhara, Mai, Monk, Ayako and John like they'd always been friends. Which irked Naru no end. He decided the only way to stop the unwelcome added noise was to disperse the offenders. Which was how Mai got sent on yet another errand with Yasuhara and Monk.

"Mai, go and replace this and this camera's batteries. Take Bou-san and Yasuhara with you." He said, throwing her a couple of batteries. He pointed to a map of the mine tacked onto the wall, with all the cameras positions marked on it with green circles.

"Sure!" She caught them and set of, the other two in tow.

They wandered through the seemingly never ending tunnels, replacing first one battery, then the other. Naru had upgraded the cameras to wireless technology, especially after the problems with wires in the previous case (we know that technically this wouldn't be possible, there's no signal underground, but humour us).

"So, which way now?" Mai asked, as they came to a T-junction.

"This way!" Both Monk and Yasuhara said simultaneously, walking in different directions. Mai sighed. _Next time I'm not leaving the map reading to them._

"Do you even know where we are?" She asked dubiously.

"Yeah, here!" She studied the place on the map Monk's finger was pointing at. She snatched the map off him.

"But the tunnel says Woodstock Crescent. Look, it's in a crescent shape! We're there!" Mai said, pointing to somewhere different. She sighed again.

"Well, at least you're lost with us Mai-chan!" Yasuhara said cheerfully.

"You can always talk to your big brother Bou-san!" Monk joined in. _Brilliant. _

"Big brother Bou-san?" Yasuhara asked.

"Yeah, 'coz we're all Mai's family."

"Yeah, Bou-san is my big brother, Ayako is my sister-in-law," Monk sighed in desperation, but didn't interrupt Mai. "Masako and John are cousins, Lin is my uncle…"

"Uncle Lin." Said Yasuhara, laughing at the thought.

"… Madoka is my Aunt…"

"And Naru is?"

Mai blushed.

"Boyfriend? No, I know, Husband Naru!"

"N-no…"

"But Mai-chan, then what am I? I got it! Yasu, son of Naru! And Mai!" He grinned. Mai looked mortified. A strange gurgling sound escaped her.

"N-n-no… You're more like the annoying little brother."

"But you didn't complain about Naru being your hubby!" Yasuhara crowed triumphantly.

"I can't wait till they actually get married…"

"And have kids! Do you think they'll be more like Mai or Naru?"

"I hope they'll be more like Mai, but I guess they can have Naru's good looks… Eh, Mai?" Monk nudged her.

Mai was wilting from embarrassment. _Thank god we're not in earshot of anyone else…_

"Honestly, call yourself my family!" She said stalking of in the direction of base. Yasuhara ran after her.

"I can't believe you even dreamt of leaving your own son behind!" He pouted. "Come on Uncle Bou-san!" He called over his shoulder.

"I'll be there in a mo, just doing my shoelaces…" He called back, as Yasuhara continued to tease Mai.

There was a noise. He looked up.

* * *

"Hey, where's Bou-san? He said he'd catch us up." Mai looked around worriedly.

"That's true… Uncle Bou-san!" Yasuhara called. There wasn't a reply.

"Bou-san?" Mai called as well. They started heading back the way they came. There was no sign of him at the junction.

"Maybe he went the other way?" Asked Yasuhara, and they set off in the way Monk had pointed the first time. Eventually arriving back at base they burst in.

"Uncle Bou-san?" Yasuhara asked, assuming he must have just been a faster walker then them. Everyone looked up.

"Where's Bou-san?" John asked.

"We thought he'd be here!" Mai exclaimed, disbelief etched into her face.

"Well, he isn't." Masako said, hiding her face behind her kimono sleeve.

"Mai, what happened?" Naru asked.

"Well, we got to a T-junction, and Bou-san and Yasu were… teasing me, so I walked off in one direction. He stopped to do his shoelaces and Yasu came with me. Then we realised he hadn't caught up, so we went back and…" She started crying when it sunk in that he was missing.

Omiki stood up.

"I will tell Fuyuki-senpai, and we can organise a search party…" She said, running out of the base in the direction of the lifts.

"It's okay Mai, it wasn't your fault." John said reassuringly.

"But it was, if only I had waited for him to do his laces, instead of walking off…" She sobbed.

"You can't blame yourself, I'm at least half to blame, if not more. If we hadn't been teasing you about Naru being your hus…" he trailed off nervously as Mai poked him hard.

"Naru being Mai's what?" asked Ayako, although she had already guessed.

"Oh, er, nothing." He said innocently.

"Didn't sound much like 'nothing'. You were going to say husband, weren't you?" She prodded him.

"Nooo…" said Mai, blushing furiously.

"You see, I'm Naru and Mai's son." Said Yasuhara proudly. "I am, after all, good looking enough." If anything Mai turned even redder.

"Yasu!" She said.

"What? They've all worked it out in their minds anyway…" He saw Naru's death glare. "Well, maybe not everyone…"

"Naru! Only 17 and you already have a wife and a son!" Ayako scolded. "why didn't you say?"

"What are the rest of us?" Yasuhara explained everybody's position in Mai's family. "We weren't sure whether Mai and Naru should be boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife…" He finished.

"She's gone an interesting shade of red…" John muttered to Masako.

"I don't think she's ever gone that far before." She agreed, watching in amusement, much to her surprise. She didn't feel angry or annoyed at all.

"I said, you're more like the younger annoying brother!" Mai protested. "And I'm not married to Naru!"

"Pfff. We'll remind you of this at the wedding. I guess you can't get married yet…"

"Like Naru's ever gonna marry me."

"You'd be surprised. But you're still together!" Naru cleared his throat.

"Stop mucking around. In case you've forgotten we are missing one of our members." He snapped, annoyed at their conversation. _Marry Mai, not likely._ He thought.

"Naru." Lin pointed at the monitor, where Bou-san could be seen purposefully walking down the tunnel.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! The ghosts have taken Monk! O noes!**

**We were surfing youtube recently, looking for good NaruxMai AMVs... and we came across one that had the song "The One That I Want'... and we were like :0 it's Naru's least favourite song!**


	42. 7 Underground part 4

Underground, Part 4

Walking

They all crowded round the monitor.

"Where's he going?"

"Where's that camera placed?"

The map was quickly checked.

"In a tunnel called Saints Street. There." Naru pointed to it, and they set off.

When they got there, there was no sign of Monk.

"Where did he go?" Ayako muttered.

"Lin, which direction did he go in?" Naru spoke into a walkie-talkie.

There was some crackle, but then they heard Lin's voice on the other end.

"He went left onto Ore Road, but from then on I can't say."

They went onto Ore Road but there was still no sign.

"Bou-san!" Several voices called, getting more and more worried as time passed. They took a left, then a right, then doubled back as they hit a dead end. They tried several more directions, everyone trying to go the way they wanted to but stay with the others. After trekking through several miles of tunnel they gave up and went back to base.

"Will he be alright?" Mai asked Naru, willing him to say 'yes'.

"I don't know…" The mine was large, and on a few levels. Anything might happen to him. For all they knew he could already be dead. He just hoped the monk hadn't wandered into the unsafe zone.

"Did he have a map?" No reply. "Mai, did he have a map?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"Until I took it from him…"

"It's not like he could read it…" Yasuhara tried to cheer her up.

"But maybe if he had a map…" She started crying again. "Maybe he would be back by now. It's all my fault!" Naru almost rolled his eyes.

"Mai stop blaming yourself."

"But- but…"

"Mai."

"Yes?"

"Tea." Mai nodded and turned to her new worst enemy: the portable stove. She twisted some dials and pressed the button that ignited the gas.

"Er, Naru…?"

"What?"

"It's not working." Naru looked at her, annoyed.

"By that do you mean the stove isn't working, or you're doing the wrong thing again?"

"The stove's not working!" She said, anger flaring. Naru sighed, but went over to the stove which Mai was glaring at as though it would solve all her problems.

"There's gas cylinders in the box." Everyone watched as Naru put in the new gas cylinder and then started the stove. Soon they were all sitting with a mug of tea on their laps. There was also tea in Monk's mug, sitting on the desk, waiting for its owner to return.

Fuyuki and his search team came into base.

"No sign of him. I'm sorry…" He said, for the first time since they had met him his eyes were sad.

"But we will continue to try to find him. My condolences, Mitsuzake-san." He bowed and left, his group of men following.

"He's not dead." Mai muttered. "I know he isn't." Ayako looked up from her tea with red eyes.

"Are you sure?" She asked quietly. Mai nodded.

"Completely."

* * *

The next day dawned bright. Mai woke up early, not having been able to sleep properly. She saw Ayako pacing the room, Masako was still asleep.

"Ayako? How long have you been up for?"

"Only about 20 minutes. I couldn't sleep…"

"Me neither." They got changed in silence and made their way to the base. Lin was sitting in his usual chair watching the monitors for any signs, but so far he had seen nothing. He looked up when they entered. He put his finger to his lips and pointed at the sofa.

Naru was fast asleep, his coat draped over him, a small smile playing around the corners of his mouth. _He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. I wonder what he's dreaming of…_

They sat opposite him and waited for the others to get up. Yasuhara walked in, still rubbing his eyes about an hour later. He sat next to them in silence. All three sat, thinking their own private thoughts until they were brought out of their reveries.

"Mai…" Naru's smile had disappeared some time ago, and he had turned over.

Yasuhara and Ayako glanced at each other.

"Mai…"

Mai blushed. _Naru's dreaming of me?_

"I don't like coffee!" He snapped, a small frown on his sleeping face. "Now go away, I'm working."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"He even dreams about working…" Yasuhara muttered, smiling. Silence then reigned for the next 45 minutes when John and Masako walked into base. Everyone sat opposite Naru, watching him and waiting for him to wake up.

His eyelids fluttered and he groaned, stretching out so his feet dangled off the arm of the sofa. Two blue eyes opened. And stared at the five pairs of eyes staring at him. They blinked. A hand ran through black hair, and he sat up.

"What's the time?" He asked groggily.

"Twenty past eight." Lin said. He rubbed his eyes.

"Ne Naru, what were you dreaming about?" Yasuhara asked. Immediately he became suspicious.

"Nothing."

"Oh really? Not about Mai by any chance?"

"No."

"Or coffee…?"

"No. Why would I dream about coffee?"

"Because you don't like it maybe…? Or maybe Mai brought you coffee instead of tea?"

Pause. "What happened?" A thoroughly confused Naru asked.

"Well, you were saying Mai's name quite a lot." Began Yasuhara. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you did…" Ayako agreed.

"… And then you said her name a bit more…" Yasuhara continued. Mai glared at him. Naru froze. _Oh God…_

"He only-" Mai started, but was interrupted by Yasuhara, who put a hand over her mouth.

"And then you pretty much confessed…" Naru raised his other eyebrow.

"Confessed? I don't remember doing anything wrong…" Yasuhara sighed. _He really doesn't realise, does he?_

"Your love for Mai!" Naru's heart skipped a beat. _He's not serious. I don't love her, so why would I confess? 'Maybe you do…' _another part of his brain suggested. _Shut up._

"Mai,"

Everyone waited for it.

"… What actually happened? Yasuhara, remove your hand." Yasuhara's shoulder's sagged, but he did as he was told.

"Don't do that again!" Mai shouted at him, her face crimson.

"Mai…" Naru reminded her.

"Oh yeah. You only said that you didn't like coffee and then told me to go away because you were working. And you only said Mai twice."

"Mai, you should have gone along with it!" Ayako hissed. "How many other times are we going to get to see him squirm?"

"I'm not! That was… Why would you say something like that when it wasn't true?" Mai cried.

"Well, it was quite fun Mai-chan, and anyway, he's got to realise some time…"

"And he clearly needs our help!" Ayako added.

Naru wasn't sure of what he was meant to realise, but he was worried about where this conversation was going.

"Mai, tea." He said.

"And another thing, how come you only drink Mai's tea?" Yasuhara had broken off his conversation with Ayako.

"It tastes the best. And I drink my own tea."

"Naru, since when did you make tea yourself?"

"When Mai is unable to for whatever reason. I do drink tea at home too."

"So you only drink your tea when Mai can't make it?"

"That is what I said."

"So, you won't mind if I make your tea today?"

"I will mind."

"What if Mai-chan can't make it?"

"Mai can make it. And will. Yasuhara, what are you getting at?"

"Nothing, nothing… What if I make your tea, and Mai brings it to you!"

"No."

"Alright, it was just a suggestion." He muttered as Mai came back. She handed him his tea, blushing when their fingers brushed (ahh, she's so predictable.). After the tea was drunk (ie about half a minute later) they left base for the lifts. They descended to the mine with the search party, and split as they got to the fork. SPR entered base holding their breath, but there was no sign of the Monk. Mai picked up the note they had left and angrily scrunched it up.

He had no map, nor food and no water. They all knew chances of survival were small. They had to find him before he died of dehydration. They worked systematically, covering the area near the base in pairs: Yasuhara and John, Masako and Ayako and Mai and Naru. Lin stayed in the base to watch the monitors. He had sent a couple of Shiki out to search as well, but so far he was still lost.

Ayako and Masako walked along the path Naru had drawn for them in a red marker.

"Are you alright?" Masako asked Ayako again.

"What? Oh, yes, just worried." She frowned.

"Of course. We all are, but Mai said he was still alive, so I'm sure he is. When has she been wrong?" Masako smiled reassuringly. Ayako stared at her.

"Since when do you praise Mai?" She asked, surprised. "I thought you two hated each other…"

"I've never hated her. Well, not for very long. And she's never hated me."

"Right… but what about you two being rivals? Doesn't that normally make you hate her?"

"Well, to be honest…"

"Yes?"

"Well, I haven't told this to anyone…"

"You can trust me."

"Thanks. Well, I don't really… I mean, we're not really rivals anymore…" Ayako stared at her.

"You've given up?" She asked incredulously. Masako nodded.

"So, you don't like him anymore?"

"I do, but there's no way I can compete against Mai." She said sadly. Ayako nodded, understanding. If she where in her place she would have given up as well.

"Well, there are other fish in the sea. Maybe you and Naru just weren't meant to be. You're young, and pretty, you could easily get someone else." Ayako said kindly.

"You think so?"

"Oh yes. You know, maybe you'll find someone better then Naru."

"Thanks." Masako smiled at her, a true smile.

* * *

Mai stomped after Naru.

"You could slow down!" She called.

"You could not trip over." He replied over his shoulder.

"You-!" She said, running to catch up with him. "It's not fair, you have longer legs!"

"Shorter legs don't mean that you have to trip over all the time."

"I don't trip over all the time!" She said, immediately tripping over, catching herself, but then getting entangled with Naru's feet, bringing them both down.

"Owww." Mai moaned. At least the ground was soft. What? Ground isn't soft! She opened one eye, and yelped.

"Mai, stop squirming." Naru said as one of her elbows jabbed him in the stomach. He winced. Mai blushed and got up.

"Sorry Naru…" She said, embarrassed, offering her hand. He took it and pulled himself up. They continued walking in silence, Mai as she was embarrassed, and Naru because that's what a Naru does. They came to a cross roads.

"Which way now?" Mai asked.

"You had the map." Naru reminded her. Her eyes widened.

"Oh no, the map!" she cried, sprinting back the way they came.

"Mai!" Naru turned and followed her. _Damnit, why does she have to run so fast?_ He turned the corner in time to see her turning down another tunnel, map in hand, walking reasonably fast. _What is she doing?_ He ran after her, following her through the maze.

"Mai!" He called, he could see her in front of him.

She turned around, stared at him, then turned back and walked faster.

* * *

**So, what's up with Mai? You'll have to wait and see... mwhaha. And another one of Yasuhara's attempts fails. **

Blooper:

Mai blushed and got up.

"Sorry Naru." She said embarrassed, offering him her hand. He took it and pulled himself up. They continued walking in silence, Mai occasionally glancing down at her hand.

"Naru?"

"Yes Mai?"

"You can let go of my hand now..." He looked down at their interlaced fingers.

"Oh, right..."


	43. 7 Underground part 5

Underground, part 5

Children

In base, everyone except Monk, Naru and Mai were waiting. Waiting for those three people to come back.

"Naru and Mai sure are taking their time." Ayako said lazily.

"Why are they taking so long?"

Yasuhara grinned and pushed up his glasses.

"Yasu, I don't mean in that way. I doubt they've been kissing for 20 minutes."

"Maybe something happened to them? Like a cave in or something?"

"Wouldn't we have heard a cave in? But maybe the ghost got them…"

"But they're together, they'll protect each other."

"I'm still worried… Lin says that the last time we got footage of them was about half an hour ago…"

Lin suddenly stood up. They all crowded round and watched a monitor intently.

It was the camera that showed the view of Saints Street, and currently Mai was walking down it, alone.

"Didn't Bou-san look like that earlier when went down there too?"

"Don't tell me Naru left her alone? He should know better then to do that… Now we're going to lose Mai too… Crap…"

Naru appeared on screen, following Mai some distance away.

"Did the ghost get him too?"

Naru glanced at the camera for a few moments. Then he ran towards it and picked it up, before running onto Ore Road.

"No, I don't think so. He's following her to see where she goes."

"Mai did have a map, right?"

"Yeah, I think…"

* * *

Mai woke up to complete blackness. Where was she? Last thing she remembered was getting the map, and then she heard a noise and had looked to see what it was…

"Mai-chan?" A voice asked carefully from her right.

"B-Bou-san?"

"Yeah."

"Bou-san, what happened? We searched the whole mine!" Her eyes were becoming used to the darkness and she could see a blob next to her, presumably Monk. The blob shrugged. Mai jumped up and wrapped her arms around him.

"I was tying my shoelace, and then I heard a noise, so I looked up… Then I'm not really sure what happened next, but I woke up here."

"Oh… same with me… Where are we?"

"I'm not really sure, it's a cavern of some kind. I found a small stream in one corner."

"So we have water?"

"That is what he implied, yes." Said a rather icy voice from her left.

"N-Naru! You're here too!"

"Where did you think I was?"

"I dunno… back in base or something…"

"Naru followed you."

"Followed me?"

"Yes, that is what he said. If you hadn't run off to get the map then I wouldn't have needed to."

"Oh, the map! Where is it now?"

"The ghosts took it."

"Ghosts? There's more then one?"

"Mai, is there something wrong with your ears?"

"My ears are fine!"

She was struggling to see Naru properly, him wearing black wasn't helping.

"I'm thirsty, where's the stream? I can't see properly yet."

Monk helped her up and guided her to the stream.

"So, what else is here? Apart from rocks and water, I mean."

"Not much else…" Mai got the feeling that Monk was hiding what else there was from her.

"Bou-san, what else is here?"

"Um…"

"It's probably better if you didn't know."

"Naru! You can't say that!"

"I can say what I like."

"Listen to Naru."

"No, now I'm imagining all the creepy things it could be…"

Naru sighed.

"Fine then."

"Naru, maybe it's not such a good idea…"

Mai felt a warm hand envelope her wrist and lead her to part of the cavern. She realised it was Naru. They stopped. Mai looked round.

"I can't see anything…"

"Down."

Mai looked at Naru, slightly confused.

"Look at the ground."

She looked, and then screamed.

Lying on the ground, leering at her with hollow eyes and grinning with pale teeth, was a skull. A human skull, complete with skeleton. And with several other skeleton friends.

"Better now?" Naru asked when her scream died.

"W-we're sharing a cave with a s-skeleton…" she muttered, images of skeleton zombies coming at them running through her mind.

"Several skeletons." Naru corrected, then lead her back to Monk.

"They're all the people who went missing… Are we going to die too?" Mai asked.

There was grim silence. Chances of survival were slimming down. True, they had water, but no food, no map, no way out and the others probably weren't going to find them. Not to mention the ghosts had destroyed the camera before Naru made it to the cavern.

"I think the children are coming…" Monk muttered.

"Children?"

"The ghosts. I talked to them yesterday."

Sounds reached Mai's ears, sounds of children whispering excitedly. _That sounds similar to what I first heard…_

Several ghostly children seemed to appear in the cavern. They saw the trio of ghost hunters.

"Daddy!" several cried, and lunged forwards to Monk.

"I'm not Daddy, I'm Uncle." Said Monk. The children looked slightly confused. "This is Mummy," He gestured to Mai, "And on the other side of Mummy is Daddy." Naru glared at Monk, but it was lost in the darkness.

"We didn't bring him here. He's not Daddy." Said one child.

"He is. Mai here is your Mummy," The children nodded eagerly. "And Mummy is married to Daddy Naru, and I am Mummy's brother, so I am your Uncle!" _When will everyone understand that I'm not married to Mai?_

"Can Daddy play?" asked a child, they still seemed wary of Naru.

"He plays with Mummy, and he does get the most amazing reactions out of her." The dark, fortunately for Mai, hid her blush and, unfortunately for Naru, hid his death glare. All of the children ran towards Mai and swamped her in hugs, all trying to hold onto her.

"Mummy!"

"Play with us Mummy!"

"Play play play!"

Over the children's heads Mai saw Monk give her a look that clearly said 'Play with them'. Mai, with some difficulty due to several ghostly children trying to all gain her attention, stood up and smiled at them. _The children are quite sweet, at first they scared me but they probably just want someone to play with, that's probably why we've become 'Uncle Bou-san', 'Mummy Mai' and 'Daddy Naru'. I can't imagine Naru a daddy… _

"What do you want to play?" She asked.

"A game!"

"Yeah! A game, Mummy, a game!"

Mai started playing with the children, acting as if she wasn't stuck in a cave with several ghosts and skeletons.

"Mai is good with children, ghostly ones included. She'd make a good mother." Monk added. The hint was completely lost on Naru.

"That's why they brought her here, to act as their mother. And you as their father."

A few children broke off from the group and came over to where Monk and Naru were sitting.

"Uncle, will you play with us?" one asked.

"I'll play if Daddy plays too." Naru made a mental note to make Monk pay somehow later.

"Come on, Daddy, play!" They started tugging on Naru's arms.

"Yes, Daddy, come on." Monk pushed Naru forward from behind.

"…" Naru didn't move.

"Come on Naru!" Mai laughed, tugging at his arm.

"Mai." He said warningly.

"Yeah, come on!" The children said, crowding around him and pulling him up too. Monk tried not to laugh as Naru stood up.

"Daddy will play!" chanted a child. They all let go of his arms so he could walk, and he walked to the stream and started to drink from it.

"Daddy…"

"Play!"

"Play with us!"

Naru ignored them. Seeing as he obviously wasn't going to play, Monk came up with a solution.

"I know! Daddy is a monster, and we all have to run away from him!"

The children laughed and giggled and started running away from Naru, scattering in all directions. Naru went back to where he had been sitting originally and sat down. He could hear a lot of giggling, but he ignored it and started thinking about how they were going to get out. He didn't know where the way out of cavern was, the children had made sure of that. The children had made sure that there was no way they could escape; they evidently had forgotten they needed food to live. He heard a voice near to him.

"Naru, you could at least walk around a bit!" Mai hissed. He sighed, then walked round and round the hollow space. Ghosts (and occasionally Monk or Mai) scampered out of his way. But soon the children tired of the game, the "monster" wasn't being very, well, monstery.

"Naru-chan, you really should put in more effort." Monk whispered.

"Well, someone has to think of finding a way out of here." He hissed back.

"You don't mean that, do you?" They turned to see a small girl behind them, staring with large eyes and sucking her thumb.

"Of course not." Monk hastily said.

"You do, don't you? You do! You do mean it!" She started crying and shouting. Everyone else stopped.

"What do they mean?" Mai approached the girl, glaring at Naru at the same time.

"You're trying to get away from us! You don't love us! You're not our mummy and daddy!"

"No, that's not-" Monk began, looking worried.

"Yes, we are not your parents. And yes, we are trying to find a way out. Otherwise we will die, like the other unfortunate people you took." The children glanced at the corner of the cavern nervously. "Look at Bo- Uncle, he hasn't eaten for at least two days. He's pale and tired all the time, and looks thinner. And when he dies he will leave you forever." With that he sat down on a rock and thought.

The children glanced at each other and started crying. Mai started to comfort them.

"We don't like him. You will stay, won't you?" They asked, clinging to her and soaking her clothes with their tears.

"Yes, I will stay." Mai said, rubbing their backs. "But I'm tired. I'm gonna go to sleep, okay?" The children left her and ran through the walls of the cavern, laughing and squealing. Mai's teeth started to chatter. She was wet and there was an annoying breeze that wasn't helping.

"Mai? Are you okay?" Monk gave her a hug.

"It's cold…" She complained. Monk immediately cursed himself for having left his jacket in his room. Naru sighed, but stood up.

Mai smiled as something warm was wrapped around her. She lay down and curled up, and fell asleep.

* * *

Monk smiled as Mai shifted, and subconsciously sniffed Naru's jacket. Her lips tugged upwards slightly.

"Don't worry, someday he'll notice…" he said to the sleeping girl. Mai, for her part, was blissfully unaware of the thoughts running through the monk's mind. She woke up, drawing her cover around her. It was nice and warm. Her eyes opened.

"Rise and shine sleepy head!" A scarily cheerful voice called. Mai glared at Monk's upside down face that was blocking her vision.

"Five more minutes…" she said sleepily.

"Well, I would say yes, but I think Naru wants his jacket back."

Mai looked at him confused.

"Naru's jacket…?" She looked down. A screech broke the silence. Naru rolled his eyes. You could tell when Mai was up. Monk laughed at Mai's red face.

"Bou-san, that's not funny!" Mai complained.

"Well…" Mai scowled but got up. She found Naru sitting on his usual rock and handed his jacket back.

"Thanks… er, sorry it's a bit creased…" she trailed off awkwardly. Naru took and put on said jacket without a word.

"I'm hungry…" Mai grumbled at the lack of breakfast.

"Yeah, me too…" Monk looked at his stomach. Mai studied him in the dark. Naru was right, he was thinner. His clothes looked baggier, and they were dirty. There were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was tangled.

"You look awful." Monk had been studying her too.

"Says you." Mai said, raising one eyebrow.

"Mai, do you remember the Urado case?" Naru asked, breaking through their little conversation.

"Yes, why?"

"Do you remember how you gave Hara-san that key?"

"No. I did it when I was asleep. And anyway y…" Her eyes widened when she realised she had almost given herself away.

"Anyway what?" Monk asked.

"Nothing!" Neither believed her, but they left it.

"You're sure you don't remember?" Monk asked. Mai nodded. They looked at each other.

"And anyway, I don't know where we are…" Naru ran a hand through his hair. They sat in silence.

"Where are the children?" Mai asked after a while.

"I don't know…"

"Oh well. The children are gone, the breeze doesn't feel cold, I'm warm again… it's an improvement on last evening…" Mai leaned back on her elbows. Naru watched her for a moment before something, somewhere in his brain clicked.

"What did you say?"

* * *

**Haha, the thought of Naru playing with kids just wasn't working in our minds, so... anyway, we've left the others to their own devices for a while which is a bit worrying... we should probably check on them. **

**Mai and Naru are so sweet :D **

**School has started again, so we won't be updating as frequently.**


	44. 7 Underground part 6

Underground, Part 6

Naru's Jacket

"There's no sign of them anywhere." John looked worriedly down tunnels. "You can't sense them can you?"

"I can't see that far." Masako frowned.

"Oh right. Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"That's okay." Masako smiled at him. Ayako noticed Masako had become more and more normal ever since Monk had got her that pen. Well, maybe she had started before, but that's when Ayako had noticed it. _I guess she doesn't get many presents from people who aren't family…_ she thought sadly. Het thoughts turned to the giver of said present, but she pushed them away.

Her hope was fading with every passing minute, and her heart felt heavy. She was slightly annoyed they had stopped looking for Monk, but she guessed wherever Mai and Naru where he'd be there as well…

They had done the same today, wondering round the tunnels, but now in a big group.

"We've already been down this tunnel." Yasuhara pointed out.

"We've already been down every tunnel." Masako muttered.

"No we haven't." Yasuhara stopped suddenly making John bump into him.

"Alright, where haven't we been?" Masako asked.

"Nowhere on the other side of the mine, and…"

"And?" Lin asked impatiently. He'd been much more motivated by Naru's disappearance then by Monk's.

"That area." He said, pointing to the large area in the middle that was shaded in pink.

"The unsafe zone?" John asked. "Isn't that a bit, um, dangerous?" He asked, glancing at Ayako and Masako.

"Scared John?" Ayako teased.

"No, but I don't want anyone else to…" he trailed off.

"They aren't dead." Ayako said forcefully. There was a pause. Everyone looked at Lin. He seemed to be thinking.

"Alright. We will go and find Fuyuki-san." He said. A couple of hours later the search team and SPR assembled by the lifts. They carried ropes, spare torches, water bottles, first aid kits, small hammers, several metal poles, more rope and a couple of strange machines that Fuyuki explained were to test for gas.

The large group set off, stopping to probe the rock and test the gas occasionally. A few times they had to stop and go a different way as rubble had blocked the tunnels. These ones were smaller, the rough rock unpainted, there was no electricity. Each person had the powerful lights on their helmets and a couple of hand held torches, which illuminated the tunnels. Ayako shivered.

"What are these?" Yasuhara asked, pointing to several gaps which the tunnels twisted around.

"Caverns or underground lakes."

"Maybe they're there…" Yasuhara muttered.

"I would doubt it. The chances of them wondering the tunnels are larger."

"No, I think they're in a cavern…"

"How do you know?"

"Just a hunch. What?" He asked as he realised Masako and John were looking at him.

"Well, it's worth a try, isn't it? And then we can eliminate them?" John asked.

"Try what?" Lin asked. They explained. They agreed to search the caverns first.

* * *

"This one's empty too." The search team confirmed.

"Just… 4 caverns left…"

"It's late. I think we should head back. And we're all tired." Fuyuki glanced at his watch.

"Is this cavern safe?" Lin asked, looking at the map. This particular cavern wasn't shaded in pink.

"Yes…" He paused, then his eye's widened. "We're not sleeping here."

Lin looked at him. "We have the equipment. It would take a while to walk back, in possibly dangerous tunnels. Then tomorrow we would have to walk back in said dangerous tunnels. It's warm down here, and we have food and water. We're closer to the other caverns so we can start searching again earlier."

"Well, when you put it like that…"

The next morning they continued their search, all the more determinedly. This was Monk's third day without food or water. Today he would collapse and die. They all shuddered at the thought.

The next cavern was empty too. They sighed, crossing it off the map. Then they trudged through more tunnels.

"Almost there…"

Yasuhara blinked. They had certainly _not_ been in this tunnel a moment ago. He looked around, confused. Judging from the others expressions they felt the same way.

"Where are we?" Masako asked. John walked to where the tunnel joined another one.

"Cherry row…" He said. Yasuhara looked at the map.

"But that's all the way over here!" He said pointing to somewhere far away from the cavern.

"There's something strange with that cavern…" Ayako whispered. With unanimous agreement they walked back to it.

* * *

"What did you say?" Mai paused, surprised.

"Er, the children are gone…? I'm warm…? The breeze isn't cold anymore…?" She said uncertainly.

"The breeze…" He repeated.

"What breeze?" Asked Monk.

"I only felt it because I was wet…" Mai explained.

"Where is it coming from?" Naru asked.

"I don't know, it's too faint…" Mai said, frowning. She cried out as Naru grabbed her wrist and dragged her across the cavern.

"Naru? What are you doing?" She squeaked, slightly scared by the glint on his eye. He glanced at her, but didn't answer. They approached the stream; Mai could hear the gentle rustle of moving water. They stopped by it's banks, but Naru didn't let go of her wrist. "Um, Naru…?"

"Yes Mai?"

"You're not going to…?" He looked at her. She gulped. _I take that as a yes…_ She started to walk away, but was stopped by Naru holding her.

"I am NOT going in the stream." Naru raised an eyebrow. Monk stood back to watch as they started fighting. Naru eventually picked her up and walked to the middle of the stream.

"No!" She said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Mai, let go." He ordered. She shook her head.

He let go, but she put her legs round his waist and clung on.

"I wish they hadn't taken the camera away…" Monk mused, laughing. Mai remembered herself and let go.

"Owww…" She said as she slipped on the wet rock and crashed into the stream.

"I wouldn't have made you _that_ wet." Said an amused Naru, wringing out the corner of his shirt.

"Why you-!" She cried, jumping out of the stream to accost him.

"To be fair, Naru-chan is pretty wet too…" Monk said, still snickering.

"Not as wet as me!"

"You let go." Said Naru simply.

"Pity for Naru…"

"Shut up Bou-san."

"Can you feel the breeze now?"

Mai paused in her ranting. Yes, she could feel a cold breeze, sweeping from end of the cavern to the other, chilling her bones. Goosebumps appeared on her skin.

"It's coming from… there." She said, pointing in one direction, teeth chattering from cold. Naru wasn't cold, so he slipped his jacket off again, and quietly crept up behind her (he doesn't creep intentionally, he just walks silently), and put the jacket on her shoulders. Monk grinned in the darkness. And grinned even wider when Mai slipped her tiny arms into the sleeves, she was just so small, and the jacket was a few sizes too big.

"Shut up Bou-san." Mai glared at him, but the dark made him immune to evils.

"Mai?" Naru asked, and Mai walked along the section of the wall, running her hand along it behind her. She shrieked as it disappeared into a hole she had missed due to the lack of light. They gathered round.

"It's tiny." Mai said, the hole was only roughly thirty centimetres wide and ten cm tall. "We can't have got through that."

"There's probably some other entrance, but I was possessed as well at the end." Naru muttered. "And if we went out the way we came in we'd wander through tunnels with no food or water until someone found us. If there's wind we're near the surface, so this is a better way out." The other two nodded.

"But if we go this way we still won't have any food or water…" Monk said quietly. They paused.

"It's better then slowly starving to death in here. Even if we did exorcise the children we'd still be stuck. This mine is big, it would take a while to search all of it." They all glanced at each other.

"We'll do it." Mai whispered. Naru nodded. Naru and Monk immediately started to work on making the hole larger, while Mai dried off and watched. When Monk got tired she took over, but wasn't that useful due to her small size and weakness.

"Why aren't the children back yet?" Monk asked. The cavern seemed more eerie when they weren't there.

"Maybe the others got too close…" Mai said hopefully.

"Maybe."

They continued working in silence, all three rotating so everyone had a rest. After a few hours labour they managed to make the hole big enough for even Bou-san to wriggle through, and they started to make it deeper. It seemed to be the entrance to a tunnel that had been filled with rubble.

"Naru?"

"Yes Mai?"

"What if it collapses?" She asked nervously. He didn't say anything. They were tired by then, and Monk was looking even thinner due to the extra work.

"Bou-san, you don't have to help…" The three sat in a line against the wall of the cavern.

"No, I want to." He said determinedly.

"But you haven't eaten anything for the longest, and you're getting thin…" Mai protested.

"You're looking thinner yourself." They fell asleep like that, leaning their heads back against the wall.

The first to wake was Naru, when he fell over from the combined weight of Mai and Monk leaning on him. He gently shook Mai awake, and they silently continued to work on the hole. A bit later (they had no way to measure time pass) Monk woke up. He looked worse then ever, though so did the other two.

A while later (a few hours) they were so deep they could only work one in the hole at a time, wriggling in and out with rubble. Monk prayed every time before his go. Mai was beginning to despair. Any shred of hope was disappearing.

"Don't give up." Muttered Naru.

"Huh?"

"Don't give up Mai. We'll make it." _At least, I swear you will_. Naru promised himself.

"Okay…" She said uncertainly.

"I promise, if it's the last thing I do, we will make it out of this godforsaken cavern." Mai looked at him. She smiled.

"Alright." She said, and threw herself into work with more vigour. Hours passed. The hole grew steadily deeper and deeper. Mai could feel her stomach complaining at the lack of food, and she felt weaker. Monk sank down to the ground.

"If we ever get out of this cave, I'm going to eat for hours non-stop…"

"We will get out." Said Mai.

"How do you know? We found a possible way out, but it might lead to nowhere and the children might come back."

"Naru said we will. And he even promised."

Monk smiled weakly. "You trust him with everything…"

"Well, if we didn't get out, then he'd have to break his promise, and Naru's pride doesn't allow that."

Naru came out of the hole. Mai noticed he looked paler then usual and his shirt looked baggy on him. But then, she was drowning in his jacket and probably looked no better.

"Naru, what do we do if the children come back?"

"Don't worry about it."

Mai sat down, feeling miserable. What did they do if the children came back? None of them had enough energy to keep them away, let alone exorcise them. Despite the fact that it was because of the children she was stuck in a cavern, she did feel sorry for them. All they wanted was a mother and a father, someone to play with them and love them.

* * *

**A story that wasn't named by me, makes a change. Ahhh, MaiNaru, so cute! they make me laugh. Unforutnatly we have to make Naru that dense: otherwise the fluff might end! which would be tragic *sighs melodramatically***


	45. 7 Underground part 7

Underground, Part 7

Missing, Presumed Dead

_5 days ago, Bou-san went missing, last seen down a tunnel called Saints Street._

_4 days ago, Mai and Naru went missing too. They were last seen going down the same tunnel that Bou-san had walked down, Naru following Mai, who seemed to be possessed. Naru picked up the camera and took it with him so we could see where they went, but soon after we lost footage. _

_Where they are now, we can only guess. _

_But there is a cavern which the ghost seems unwilling to let us go to… Is that where Bou-san, Naru and Mai are?_

_Everyone else is a wreck. I am a wreck too, I suppose. _

_2 days ago, Bou-san probably collapsed and died. _

_Yesterday, the same fate happened to Mai and Naru._

_The authorities have been told- One missing Takigawa Houshou, Taniyama Mai and Shibuya Kazuya. _

_Presumed dead._

* * *

Naru, woke up, once again, from both Monk and Mai leaning on him. He was constantly tired now, his body barely having enough energy to keep him walking.

At least they had water; otherwise they would have died days ago. He wasn't sure how many; you couldn't tell how much time was passing in a cavern underground.

Today maybe, just maybe, they might get out of this place. But then, he thought that yesterday, and they were still here.

At least, Mai would. He would make sure of that.

He didn't bother to wake Monk and Mai up. Let them sleep.

He started working on the hole, making it deeper, hoping that eventually it might break through the crumbling rock, out to the other side.

His hand scraped through the rock, hitting air.

With new energy he clawed away at the hole, hoping it wouldn't collapse on him. It held, and when the hole was big enough he fell clumsily through, onto rock ground.

Not more rock… he'd seen enough of it to last an entire lifetime. He scanned the cavern he was in.

There was a stream too, but bigger. So that was what happened to the stream that flowed through their cavern, which was more of a prison. He remembered dropping Mai into that stream.

Ah, she was silly sometimes. It amused him.

Unlike their stream, however, it didn't flow through the rock; there was a tunnel built around this part of the stream.

It was big enough for them to go through.

And the water would rise up to the surface…

An escape… at last…

Hopefully.

* * *

Mai woke up when, by complete coincidence, she fell over, her support having dissappeared. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

She then noticed the lack of warm solid that she had fallen asleep next to. Naru.

She looked around wildly, but couldn't see any sign of him. She hugged his jacket which she was still wearing.

"Naru?" When there was no response, she raised her voice. "Naru!"

Her cries only woke up Monk, who started mumbling something.

"NARU!"

Still no response, nothing in that lonely cavern that signalled that the teen was there. Her heart dropped.

What if the children had come back when they were sleeping, and had taken Naru away because he didn't play with them? What if he was dead…? What if they killed him…?

Her yelling weakened her and she lent back against the stony wall. Monk seemed to be trying to search the cavern for him.

Naru seemed to pop out of the hole.

"Naru! I thought you had gone…" Mai used her little energy to run to him. He was sitting down, head tilted, and back leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes. "Naru…" An agonisingly slow moment passed before he opened his mouth.

"I found it."

"What?"

"A way out."

* * *

Lin grimaced as he put the phone to his ear. A few beeps passed before it was picked up.

"Moshi moshi~!" said an overly cheerful and happy voice.

"Madoka,-"

"Lin! It's not often you call me!"

"Madoka, you are aware of our current case?"

"No. Stupid Noll didn't tell me. He could be more grateful to his teacher."

"It's in a mine, and… people have gone missing in the mine. Bou-san, Mai and Naru have… all gone missing too." The other end of the phone was silent for a few moments.

"When?" Madoka asked in a small voice, the opposite of her voice earlier when she picked up the phone.

"Bou-san, 5 days ago. Mai and Naru, 4 days ago."

The line was silent. He could hear Madoka's breaths, which were that of someone trying not to cry.

"Have… have you called his parents?"

"No. We've registered all three of them missing."

"D-did you register him as Oliver or Kazuya?"

"Takigawa Houshou, Taniyama Mai and Shibuya Kazuya, all missing, presumed dead."

There was complete silence on both ends of the line.

"Do you want me to call Luella and Martin?" Madoka asked, barely stopping her voice from shaking.

"I should do it. It's my fault after all. I should have been more careful…"

"I'm sure it wasn't. Tell me the story." Lin explained everything. On the other end Madoka burst into tears.

"It wasn't your fault Koujo. How could you have known? Don't blame yourself…" They said goodbye and Madoka put the phone down. Lin sat in his usual chair and cradled the phone. _How can the professors cope with another dead son?_ His hand shook. _I can't bring myself to tell them…_

He looked round the base. Everyone sat, not saying anything to each other, except for Ayako who had locked herself in the girl's room. It was much the same as when they had thought Naru was dead. Except this time there could be no miracles. Four days without water, if they weren't already dead they would die today. Definitely. He sighed.

"Will we continue looking?" John asked.

"I am, whether you guys come or not." Yasuhara stood up. "We need to at least find their… bod-dies and give them a decent…" His fists had clenched and started shaking. The door to base opened revealing a tear drained Ayako.

"I'll come too." She said. Everyone else stood up. They left together, knowing exactly what their destination was: that cavern. They had continued to walk towards it, and each time they got possessed and moved. Masako would always warn them they were coming, and John would exorcise some, but there seemed to be an endless amount of the damned things.

* * *

All three took long drinks from the stream before crawling (in Mai's case) or sliding (in Monk's case) through the hole. Naru was the last person, and he pulled some of the rubble with him, hiding the hole. They walked into the cavern. Mai's breath caught.

"It's huge!" She whispered, gazing in awe at the high ceiling and the black lake before them. A suspended walkway ran around the edge, with various tunnels leading off it. There were also a couple of thin, spindly bridges crossing the expanse of water. On the opposite side of the cavern an underground stream lead through a tunnel. They directed their feet towards the stream.

Slowly, slowly they followed the stream, the slight breeze always goading them on. The stopped after Monk tripped over for the tenth time.

"That bloody breeze!" He whispered.

"I know, it feels like it's teasing you, saying you'll never make it, while at the same time offering faint scraps of hope…" Naru looked down the tunnel, then turned his gaze on the monk sprawled on the floor.

"Come on, Bou-san! Almost there…" Mai tugged at his arm, but to no avail.

"It's alright, you two go on ahead, leave me…" he murmured.

"What?" Mai bent down. Monk repeated himself.

"Get up! Now is not the time to play the hero! I'm not moving until you do!" Mai yelled at him, folding her arms stubbornly. Monk gritted his teeth, but hauled himself up. Mai wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He was surprised when Naru followed suit.

"We're not leaving you." He said grimly, and the trio set off. After what seemed like a couple of years to Mai they saw the light at the end of the tunnel. They all moved forward with new hope and determination. They all felt so giddy with relief when they were out of the tunnel, in the fresh air. Monk immediately sank onto the ground, blessing the grass.

"It's so bright!" Mai said, simply standing in the sun, arms stretched out.

Naru smiled a smile of relief. "We made it." He said simply.

"We're alive, and we're out!" Mai grinned. She hugged Naru and after a moment's hesitation he wrapped his arms around her. Monk smiled slightly at the look on her face. After a few seconds he stepped back.

"But we have no clue where we are and no food." He reminded them. Their faces immediately fell.

"Damn." Monk gritted his teeth. Mai looked around. The stream gurgled merrily as it ran its course. They were in a clearing, behind them a bare cliff face with the mouth of the tunnel in the middle. Surrounding them was a wood, through which the stream twisted. The sun was shining, creating a warm green light under the trees.

"Which way now?" Mai asked.

"We should follow the stream." Naru set off, and the others followed.

The stream bubbled merrily as it twisted through the wood, getting bigger but never seeming to end. Monk sank down and leaned against a nearby tree.

"Bou-san, we can't stop now!"

"I'm tired… I can't walk any further…"

"We need to move!"

"Mai, he hasn't eaten for a long time. Walking will just take up the last of his energy."

"Naru, we can't leave him here!"

"We can't carry him, and we're out of the mine, so he should be out of reach of the children."

"What if he dies here?"

"I'm still here, y'know." Mai and Naru looked at Monk.

"How do you feel about sleeping?"

"It's the second best thing to eating. If you have to leave me here, do it."

"What if we can't find him again when we come back?"

"We'll follow the stream."

Monk, meanwhile, had fallen asleep and started snoring.

Mai kept her voice low. "Naru, we can't leave him here."

"We can't carry him, he's far too heavy and we're far too weak. He can't walk any further, he hasn't got the energy. Leaving him is the best option."

"What if he wakes up?"

"He'll follow the stream, same as us. Come on." He grabbed her wrist with one hand. Mai stumbled after him, and after a while he let go of her wrist. They walked on in silence. Mai felt weak from hunger.

"Naru?" she asked timidly.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you tired too?"

"Yes, I'm tired and hungry, same as you. I haven't eaten for 4 days."

"Can we stop…?"

Naru didn't respond.

"Naru, I'm thirsty, can't we stop for a few moments…?"

He stopped and she bent down by stream, drinking.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! ahh, they're out! now they just need to get help. What are the others going to think when they go into that cavern?**

**Um, in answer to your question, Quao, we didn't want to go into all the details... you can leave that for your own imagination. And for nnnnyyyyaaaa, where Mai lives is irrelevant to our story and how would she afford a house in Tokyo? A flat is a much more realistic option :D **


	46. 7 Underground part 8

Underground, Part 8

Ambulance

The remains of SPR marched weakly down tunnels. Yasuhara might have suggested a sing-along, but the aura surrounding everyone else (and himself, too) made anything cheerful impossible. Yesterday they had hidden the portable stove, and when Fuyuki had suggested some tea, they'd all sunk further into depression (Fuyuki hadn't understood why Ayako and Masako had burst into tears). Lin had decided that after one more search of the mine, he'd call Luella and Martin. He was not looking forward to it, for obvious reasons. Who would want to call someone and tell then that their remaining son was dead?

They started to approach the cavern which they had in vain been trying to reach for the past few days. They all glanced at Masako, waiting for her to announce the coming spirits. She kept silence.

"Er, Masako?"

"Yes?"

"Can you sense the spirits?"

"They're not coming…"

This was unusual, no matter how many times they tried to access the cavern the spirits would come. They pressed forward. The rescue team weren't with them, they had given up on searching for three dead people. They were so close to the cavern now, and still the ghosts hadn't come. The most logical explanation, was that now that the three people the ghosts had taken were dead, they were being allowed to retrieve their bodies, by now there was no hope of rescuing them alive.

They came to the entrance of the cavern. It was a low hole, Lin had to bend almost double to get in. The passageway came to an end after about a meter, and they entered the cavern, flashing torches.

"Bou-san! Mai! Naru!" They called, searching, before remembering they wouldn't answer.

The briefly searched the chamber. John came across a small pile of skeletons.

"Is that- is that…"

"Oh my…" They all crowded around the skeletons on the floor.

"They're all really old. There's no way any of these could be them." They wandered around some more.

"They're here… all around us…" Masako had frozen, her pale face growing even paler. They gathered around her, watching as pale forms appeared from nowhere.

"There's so many…"

"Why are they so small?"

"Children…" They looked as the small crowd drew closer. The two groups regarded one another.

"Have you come to be our new daddy?" A boy asked John, smiling at him hopefully. He couldn't have been more then eight.

"No, we've come to get our friends'… our friends." He said, watching the ghost warily.

"Your friends? But there's no one here except us." He said. Another little boy next to the first scowled.

"They lied! They promised they wouldn't!" His tiny fists shook.

"Who lied?" John asked. There was a pause.

"Mummy and Uncle."

"I didn't trust Daddy from the start…" An older boy, maybe about twelve said.

"He didn't like us…" A girl started to cry. "He wasn't our Daddy!"

"You're right! He wasn't your Daddy! And Mai wasn't your Mummy either, and B-Bou-san wasn't your Uncle!" Ayako shouted. Masako put a hand on her arm.

"They were! They were!" The children protested. Ayako advanced on them.

"No they weren't! You died a long time ago! There is NO WAY they could be!" They children looked at her bewildered. Then they burst into tears and hid behind John. Masako tugged on Ayako's arm.

"Wait a minute, you said they weren't here…" Yasuhara spoke. "So, where are they?"

"We don't know! We came back and they were gone! They promised they wouldn't…" They looked so pathetic with tear tracks on their faces.

"They died, that's what they mean." Ayako snarled. "They killed them, like they killed the others!"

"We never hurt anyone!" They shook their heads, peering around John.

"Oh _really_? Then what are all those… skeletons over there!" All the children glanced into the gloom.

"We don't know what happened to them! One day they were fine, then the next they wouldn't wake up…"

"They died. Like you. These people need food and water to live."

"But we don't need food and water…"

"But you're DEAD!"

"Anyway, they had water…" Ayako paused in her ranting.

"What did you just say?" She whispered.

* * *

Naru and Mai continued walking. The sun seemed unbearably harsh to Mai, especially after 4 days spent in a dark cave. If there was civilisation nearby, they seemed to be missing it. Bou-san was far behind now. Mai put all her focus into walking, following Naru, putting one foot forward.

"Naru… what time do you think it is?"

He paused for a moment and looked up.

"Past midday."

"That tells me a lot."

They continued walking in silence. Mai could hear a few birds tweeting, and thought of mother birds, delivering food to their young chicks… food…

She imagined eating bowls of food…

"Mai, snap out of it."

She blinked. Naru was watching her.

"Oh, er, sorry…"

He turned and carried on walking.

_How can he keep walking? I'm exhausted…_

"Naru, a break…"

"No."

"I'm exhausted… a break, please…"

"I can leave you behind if you want."

"No! Can't we just stop? For a few minutes?"

Naru thought about it. Getting help was their priority, followed by getting food. They also needed to let everyone else in SPR know that they were out of the cavern. They needed to get this done as quickly as possible, but Mai was tired, and he was tired, too.

"Fine."

They sat down, leaning against a tree. He glanced at her.

"Mai…" He looked at his feet. "I…" Her head hit his shoulder. "Mai, wake up!"

She opened her eyes. "You were saying…?" She murmured.

"…We need to carry on. Come on…" He said, dragging himself up.

"Help me up then…" she said, stretching her arms out lazily. He pulled her up onto her feet. They carried on walking.

"I wonder how Bou-san is doing…"

"Still sleeping."

"Oh…"

The scenery was endless, just trees, grass and the stream, which was expanding slowly.

* * *

"What did you just say?"

"They had water, there's a stream in the corner…"

"So they're still alive!"

"But where are they now then?"

"We don't know! We didn't want them to leave! Mummy and Uncle said they wouldn't, but then they sneaked out while we weren't looking!" Several of the children burst into tears.

"Why did you take them?"

"To be our Mummy and Daddy, but we mistook Uncle for Daddy and then Daddy followed Mummy here…"

Masako bent down so she was at most of the children's height.

"Don't you want your real Mummy and Daddy?"

The children nodded.

"They're up in heaven. If you move on, then you can meet them again."

"Eh?" a really young child said. He was probably around 6.

"Several years ago, you died. You need to move on."

"Dead?"

"Yes, you died, in this mine. If you move on, you can save everyone a lot of pain."

A few children nodded. The rest still looked confused.

"If we died, why are we still here?"

"Because you haven't moved on yet."

"Moving on?" Some of the children glowed golden, and faded into nothing.

"Into heaven, where you can meet your real parents."

More children moved on.

"You surely can't like spending the rest of your afterlife in a mine."

"If you don't move on, I'm afraid we'll have to exorcise you, and that's painful, and you might not go to heaven then."

The remaining children started glowing, filling the cavern with a soft golden light. When all the children were gone, Masako stood up.

"If Bou-san, Mai and Naru aren't here, then where are they?"

"They must have gone through the passage. Presumably it collapsed after they went through."

"Is there any other way there?"

"Err… There are several other passages from various points. The quickest way in would be this way, I suppose." Yasuhara traced a route on the map.

"Okay, where's the exit?"

"It should be over there." They made their way over to the cavern wall and fumbled in the darkness for the exit. After some difficulty they found their way back to the tunnel.

"This way!" They ran towards another cavern, and through various other tunnels of varying size, they found themselves in a large cavern with a black lake.

"This is the place."

"BOU-SAN! MAI! NARU!" Ayako yelled, but there was no response.

"They're not here…"

"They must have taken one of the tunnels…"

"Damn! Which one?"

"Yasuhara, where do all the tunnels lead?"

"To various other places in the mine."

"Well, if we were Naru, what would we do?"

"I would want to get out of the mine."

"Remember they probably don't have a map, so they don't know which tunnel goes where."

"So you mean they could have taken any tunnel."

"We must think like a Naru."

"Er… So think like… I'm a workaholic, and I desperately fancy Mai?"

"Exactly."

"I think Naru would have taken that one." Three hands pointed down three different tunnels as three voices spoke simultaneously.

"Eh? Why that one?" Three voices complained.

"Where the water goes… it'll come to surface at some point, right?" John asked, having actually thought about it.

"Probably…"

"But wouldn't he want to go back to base?"

"He wouldn't know the way through the tunnels."

"Mission Think Like A Naru achieved!" Lin rolled his eyes. _It's amazing they ever get anything done…_ Being one smart bloke, he had decided that that tunnel would have been the most obvious, but seeing as some people were slightly lacking in the brain department…

"Yasu, shut up."

They walked down the tunnel, careful to not get wet.

"How far do you think they got?"

"Not very; they haven't eaten for several days."

They walked faster. Soon they burst from the tunnel into the wood.

"Well, which way now?" Ayako yelled in frustration. Damn that Naru, why couldn't he sit tight like a proper damsel in distress and await rescue? An image of Naru as a damsel floated through her mind, leading to an invariable crack up.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Yasuhara asked. She explained as everyone gave her a bug eyed look.

"Well, it made me laugh…" They looked around as they realised they were alone.

"Where's Lin and John gone?" They ran to catch up as the two followed the stream. After half an hour they found…

"What's he doing being carried away? I thought we were supposed to rescue him!" Ayako yelled, watching the paramedics with the stretcher walking through the woods. They peered at the new arrivals. One man, one woman and three teenagers. Dirty from the mine, tired from, well, pretty much everything, and two still had tear marks.

"Do you, er, know this man?" A paramedic asked.

"Bou-san! Yes!"

The men nodded, then carried on, eventually reaching the road where their ambulance was waiting. The men gave them the address of the hospital, and told them which direction the mine was in, then set off.

"One down, two to go."

"Eh?"

"We've found one- Bou-san, and we're still looking for Mai and Naru."

"Oh, yeah…"

"Which way do you think they went?"

They were at a road, where the stream ran under a bridge. Mai and Naru either went left… or right.

"We could split up."

"One group go one way, another the other way?"

"Yeah."

They split up into two groups- Lin and Yasuhara going right, Ayako, John and Masako going left.

Lin and Yasuhara walked down the road, which was small, barely used and certainly didn't have anything like pavements, just tarmac.

Lin had, some time ago, started to try to block out whatever Yasuhara was currently talking about. Emphasis on the try. How come he had ended up being paired Yasuhara? He started to wonder what as worst, being with Mai and Naru or Yasuhara. Yasuhara won easily. At least when Mai and Naru fought, it was sort of cute in a way, because they both fancied each other. But Yasuhara… when there was no Mai to tease, and you were walking down a road with nothing going on, then Yasuhara talking was somewhat tedious, especially if you were looking for your charge and your charge's assistant.

To Lin, it seemed as though they had been walking round and round one small stretch of road, it seemed like this road was never going to end, least of all end up with Mai and Naru. Lin was starting to weigh out the advantages and disadvantages of strangling Yasuhara when there was the sound of a car coming.

They obediently stepped on the grass bank by the side of the road and waited for the car to pass, Yasuhara finally shutting up. An ambulance sped past.

"Another ambulance?"

They looked at each other. The same thought passed through their heads.

"I think we need to call the others…" Yasuhara said, flipping out his phone. They hurried back in the direction the paramedic had set them in, sprinting to the mine, and jumping in the van. They collected the others in the small village they had gone through and drove to the hospital.

"I always wondered how you knew where to go…" John said. Lin didn't look away from the road.

"Well, how did you think I knew?"

"I just thought you knew, you know..."

"True, I didn't think satnav would come into it…" Lin almost smiled. Really, he was only human. He didn't have a map of Japan built into his brain.

* * *

**Okay, sorry we haven't uploaded for like ages... but our laptop is dying and there is school, so...  
not to mention yesterday was my birthday! so excited. so, i have been unable to work owing to the confusion having an ipod results in. seriously, how do you guys work these things? im terrible with technology, but luckily i can just about manage uploading these. anything more dificult... joking. i can do the basics. but ipod is anything but basic. why wont it just work with MEDIA PLAYER? if someone could review to explain, i would be grateful. now, my sister is telling me to shut up so...  
and i have to do an essay. argh, i hate writing about poetry... anyway, lots of homework to do :(**


	47. 8 Prejudice part 1

Prejudice, Part 1

The Case Of The Stolen File

Mai approached Naru's cave/lair/office with a cup of tea ready, knocking on the door lightly. There was no answer, but she went in anyway.

"...I told you, I'm fine." He looked up as she entered, then frowned slightly at the phone. "And everyone else is too." Mai wondered who Naru was on the phone to. Maybe to his family? "No, there's no need to- Madoka, I'm perfectly fine, Mai is perfectly fine, and Bou-san is perfectly fine. There is no need to come over." Ah, he was on the phone to Madoka, that explained it.

"1 day." Mai had exchanged cups and was leaving with an empty cup when Naru stood up suddenly.

"You don't have to 'check on us', you can talk to Mai, she's fine." He quickly handed her the phone and escaped to the kitchen with the empty cup which he had snatched off Mai, ignoring his fresh cup of tea.

Mai put her ear next to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mai? How are you?"

"I'm good, I got discharged yesterday."

"And made to work immediately afterwards? Tch, Naru's such a workaholic."

"Oh, I know. I seem to be making infinite amounts of tea."

"You don't mind if I come over, do you?"

"No, it's just Naru. I haven't seen you for ages!"

Naru was issuing glares in her directions, clearly telling her to not encourage her. She ignored him and carried on talking to Madoka. 5 minutes later Naru grabbed the phone from her, and quickly said 'Bye' before hanging up.

"Eh, Naru, I was talking to her!"

"I can always take it out of your wages..."

"Jerk."

She stormed out of his office, much to the amusement of everyone seated round the table. And so everything continued much the same as before. Mai and Naru still aggravated each other, and Ayako, Monk, Yasuhara and John still popped in practically every day.

It was on one such average day that their next client walked through the office door.

Mai looked up as said door opened. The man stepped briskly into the office. She felt her heart drop. Normally clients which actually needed their help looked more... well, worried, tired, upset... Definitely not like this smart man in a suit who walked confidently. She regurgitated her official greeting, before knocking on Lin's door and not bothering to knock on Naru's. Then she went to make tea.

By the time she made it back to the main room the man was half way through his clearly prepared speech.

"- then in August last year we had our first actual casualty. We have one roughly every month. Obviously this has been disastrous for our business. The most worrying, for me, is that my three year old son keeps on being... moved... Luckily we find him before anything can happen, but it is putting strain on my wife and daughter. We would really appreciate your help..." The man looked at Naru hopefully.

"What type of casualties?"

"One time we had a freak fire and one visitor was badly burned. Another time one was found wandering the woods nearby, which no recollection of how she got there. Most of them are similar to the woman's case."

"Has anyone died?" Naru gave no indication of whether he would or would not take the case.

"Not yet. We've managed to find everyone, or evacuate the building in time."

Naru was silent for a few moments. Mai watched him.

"I'm sorry, we are unable to take your case." He said eventually, then stood up and returned to his office. Mai stared after him. The man's face fell, but he stood up, bowed to Mai, and made to leave.

"Wait a moment please!" The man stopped.

"Could I take your name and a way to contact you please? For when he changes his mind." The man readily supplied the information.

"Does he do that often?"

"No." Mai said.

"So how-"

"Just a feeling." She flashed her most brilliant smile. The man left and Mai immediately stormed into Naru's office. He winced inside as the door slammed.

"I would appreciate you not breaking the door." He said coldly, not even looking up from his book. Mai positioned herself on the other side of his desk and crossed her arms.

"Naru!" No response. She sighed, exasperated, and snatched the book out of his hands.

"I was reading that."

"Well, you should have been listening!" He sighed and looked up. She momentarily lost her train of thought as their eyes locked.

"..."

"Yes Mai?"

"Why didn't you take the case?"

"It's too dangerous. Someone, probably you, is bound to get hurt."

"Since when has that stopped you?"

"Since Bou-san and you almost died in the last case. And you were strangled almost to death in the case before that-"

"And Masako almost drowned, and the case before that that ghost was throwing furniture at us, and the case before that a tree fell on you and then the ghost... anyway, the point is we're never going to take any more cases at this rate! The man needs our help!" They tried to out-glare each other.

"My point exactly. I don't want to put anyone in danger again. The next time someone might actually die."

"But you're putting other people in danger by not helping him! What about his son? What if next time they can't find him? Someone might actually die, and it might be our fault! Just because you don't know them doesn't make any difference!"

"Mai, we are not taking the case." She glared at him.

"Fine!" She said, stalking out of the room. He watched her leave, slightly suspicious that she gave in so quickly. It took him about a half a minute to realise she'd taken his book with her. He debated with himself, then wandered over to his bookshelf and took another one.

* * *

Mai glared at the Naru's door. She had run out of work to do, and had no more homework. She could feel her eyes closing. _NO! Must not fall asleep. Does he actually live here?_ She toyed with the idea for a bit, imagining him pulling a chord and a bed folding out of the wall.

Naru left his office, and was surprised to find Mai slumped over her desk, asleep. He gently shook her awake.

"mmm?" Her eyes opened groggily.

"Mai, it's eight o'clock. Go home."

"?" He ran a hand through his hair. She stretched, then seemed to remember where she was.

"Damn." She muttered. _I fell asleep... _"What time is it?" She asked sleepily.

"8. Go home."

She stood up slowly, still stretching. "You leave at 8 Naru?"

"Sometimes."

"What about Lin?"

"He leaves earlier. Now, out the door."

Mai hesitated by the door as Naru turned off the lights.

"What are you waiting for? Go home." He grabbed his jacket. "Unless you want to spend the night in the office." Mai slipped out after Naru, who locked the door. Mai watched Naru walk away home for a while, then turned and nearly skipped all the way home.

* * *

Naru walked into the office. He was not in a good mood. And what had happened to incur the wrath of our favourite narcissist? For a start he was late to work. Second because the electricity in his apartment had switched off, so he had searched for the fuse box. After eventually finding it the traffic was stationary, and even worse, this girl wouldn't stop talking to him, despite him cold shouldering her. Life couldn't get any worse.

As he stepped through the door he was brought back to reality by Mai sharply asking him why he was late. He sighed. And ignored her. And missed the little knowing smile on her face.

He gratefully entered his calm, peaceful and girl free office. He sank into his chair and reached for the file.

Strange, he had left it there yesterday. He was sure of that. So where was it? He quickly searched his desk, but the file was nowhere to be seen. He checked his drawers, including the one he kept locked, but it wasn't there. It wasn't _anywhere_. He opened his door cautiously. From the look on Mai's face he was assured that he suspected right- Mai had moved the file.

"Mai, my file."

"What about it?" She asked sweetly, eyes twinkling. Keeping up the impression of being innocent.

"Where is it?"

"I don't know. You must have put it somewhere."

"You moved it."

"I didn't!"

"You're a bad liar. Where is it?"

"I don't know."

"Your pay or my file. Choose."

"I don't know where your file is. I didn't move it."

He sighed. Mai was not going to tell him where his file was, despite threats. After glaring at her- she returned it with a grin- he went back into his office to find something else that he could read until Mai returned his file or he found it, whichever was sooner. He quickly scanned his bookshelves, but it was the file that he really wanted to read, especially now that it was gone.

Damn that Mai.

It looked like he would have to wait for his file.

"Mai, tea." He called, determined to annoy her somehow, as a punishment. 5 minutes later he was served a steaming cup of tea. Despite that he wasn't reading anything, he ignored Mai, as per usual. She waited for a few moments, but then left. He turned on his computer, and started working.

It was several hours later, and Mai was bored. Despite her taking Naru's file, he had showed almost no reaction, and was no closer to taking the case. She didn't get why he didn't take it. It sounded interesting enough, and this ghost obviously needed exorcising as soon as possible, before it got too far and someone died. Surely it was better to risk dying getting rid of a dangerous ghost than letting it get to far and letting innocent people die? But no, Naru was being Naru, and refusing to take it. She was going to find some way to change his mind. Masako had done it, but then she was blackmailing him- with dates. Although if she had something on Naru, she'd probably blackmail him with dates too.

"_You've got something on Naru, right?"_

"_I wish I didn't know what I've got on him."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Naru has a lot of pride, after all. He can't bear that someone would have anything on him. That's the reason why he doesn't like me."_

Actually, maybe it was better that she wasn't blackmailing him. Although Naru seemed to dislike her anyway, so it probably didn't matter.

_I wonder what she has on Naru... _A thought passed through her head. _No, it wouldn't be anything drastic like he's killed someone or anything like that. Naru's not a murderer. He is a good person, really. _Mai drifted into sleep, her thoughts becoming dreams.

"Mai, if you're going to continue sleeping in office time I'm going to have to cut your pay."

She sat up in record time.

"Nothing ever happens! You should really take the case, I'm bored..."

"I told you, I'm not taking the case."

"Naru... where are you going?"

"Out. Meanwhile try to break that habit." And he was gone.

Mai nearly slammed her head against the desk.

"Bored bored bored bored..."

Maybe she should drink infinite tea like Naru? That would keep her awake, and give her something to do. She went to the kitchen, and made the tea, and took it to Naru's office, then remembered that she had made the tea for herself. She eyed his chair.

_Life is short, and I might never get this chance again..._

She plonked herself in Naru's chair, sipping tea. Her eyes quickly took in the view of Naru's office, she might never get this view again. Ever.

_I never really thought about it before, but Naru doesn't do anything to make his office homely in anyway, there aren't any pictures or anything on his desk... _She eyed the drawers. _Maybe he has something in the drawers? No, this is Naru, he'd keep work related things in his drawers. _

Still, she was nosey. She opened the first draw. Full of notebooks and files. She flicked through one, unable to read his cursive writing. She replaced the notebook and opened the second draw. Just files this time. She lifted the first one, then her eyes fell on the small mirror. She picked it up. _Surely he's not that vain..._ On the back something was carved in English. Shrugging she put the mirror back and closed the drawers.

She was spinning idly in the chair, not going so fast that she would be sick, drinking tea, in Naru's office! She could have thought she was dreaming again. But no, here she was, wide awake, doing something she would have thought impossible. She had almost finished her cup when...

"What do you think you're doing?" asked a very cold voice. She looked up and saw Naru in his office doorway, glaring as per usual.

"Well... you won't take that case..."

"Get out of my chair."

She lifted her head proudly. "Make me."

"Fine."

He walked closer. Mai remembered that he was stronger than her, and last time he had picked her up, trying to dunk her in a stream. _Argh! I can't believe I actually did that!_ It was because of that thought that when he came closer she squeaked and ran away. Naru watched her go, smirking.

* * *

**Okay, sorry we didn't update earlier...**

**For a start since the beginning of the new year I have been drowning in the masses of homework heaped apon me by my cruel teachers :( though cass has been free so who knows what she does in her free time... tis a mystery (c- mwhahaha. thinking up of things to write.)  
Ahh, how will Mai win this battle? She invariably will, this ghost is too violent to miss =] which is slightly twisted, but you know what I mean. Not to mention it creates MaiNaru fluff. Why is it called that?**

**And for helpful people, I worked out how to use the ipod :D if only i had access to my music... our computer just broke down... *sob*  
**

**And Ethan, if you are reading this (which I highly doubt) - what?  
**


	48. 8 Prejudice part 2

Prejudice, Part 2

On Strike

It was day three of Mai's mission to make Naru take the case.

She was determined to win. This time, she would get the better of Naru. This time she would come out on top.

Of course, she had no idea how, but that was irrelevant. The point was that he took the case, not how she did it.

And there seemed to be no clients that were willing to come.

For Mai, life just couldn't get any more boring.

"Mai, tea."

The most interesting thing she could do was make tea. That was how boring her life had become, despite the fact that she worked for a ghost hunter.

Maybe she should put something in Naru's tea...

No. That was a stupid idea.

Although, maybe, just maybe, she should try it...

Nah. Maybe later.

She made Naru's tea without putting something in it, and promptly delivered it.

"Ne, Naru, you should really just take the case..."

"No means no. Surely even you know that."

"I'm bored, they need us, can't we take it... please?"

"No."

_The only way she could get me to take the case is... No, better not pry too far into that._

He glanced up from his file- he'd found it earlier, before Mai got to work- to see that she was trying to out-glare him. Yeah, like that'd ever work.

"Do you need something?"

"A case."

"Tough. Don't you have work to do?"

"No..."

"Then what do I pay you for?"

"To help on cases! Which is another reason why you should take the case!"

"I pay you to do office work."

"But I'm a psychic! I'm useful on cases!"

"In various ways. You have become better at setting up equipment over the cases."

"Jerk! Anyway, there is no work to do..." She glanced at him, and was slightly disconcerted to see the look which clearly said she was going to be up to her ears in work before you could say 'elephant'.

"I refuse to do work!"

"Mai..." Naru said dangerously.

"I'm going on strike!"

And she stormed out of his office.

When Monk came in, he was amused by the fact that Mai had made a sign that said 'On strike' and had placed it on her desk. She had also placed her feet on her desk and was currently enjoying listening to her mp3 in total relaxation. She sighed contentedly. _This_ was a definite improvement. Until someone pulled her headphone out of her ear.

"Mai! Has Naru at last given you a break?"

"No! I'm on strike!" She said proudly, pointing to the makeshift sign on her desk, by her feet.

"Why?"

"He won't take that case we received 3 days ago."

Monk nodded understandingly.

"Mai, tea." Came a voice from the depths of Naru's office.

"I missed the magic word!" called back Mai, turning off her mp3.

"..."

"I don't think he gets it..." Monk pointed out.

"Oh come on, even Naru was a kid once."

"Sure about that?"

Naru stepped out of his office and took in the scene.

"Take your feet off the desk. And tea."

"Nu-huh."

"And get rid of that sign."

"No can do. I'm on strike, which means I don't have to do anything you tell me."

"Mai-"

"Nope. Not doing it."

"I can always get another assistant..."

"But, let's face it Naru, you're not going to." Monk commented.

"If he does, I can take a holiday."

"Not a chance." Naru returned to his office, and re-emerged with several files, which he slammed down on Mai's desk. Mai took in the small mountain of work.

"Nope. I'm not doing it. I'm on strike."

"Naru, maybe you should just take the case..."

"I'm not taking the case!"

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous."

"Oh, you're worried about Mai! That's sweet, Naru. Have you finally realised your feelings?"

Mai started blushing, as per usual, and Naru sighed in exasperation.

"I don't want anyone to die this time. Last time you two almost died."

"So did you!"

"That's not the point. The point is that it's too dangerous to take."

"So? Japan seems to be full of violent ghosts which need to be exorcised! At this rate we'll never get any work! SPR- the ghost exorcising company which won't exorcise any ghosts because we sometimes get injured. Great advertising slogan!"

"Well, if you prefer to die..."

"We might not actually die! Thanks for assuming I'm such a klutz I almost kill myself every time we take a case!"

Naru arched an eyebrow. "You do almost die on every case we take."

"No I don't! Besides, you get hurt almost as much as me!"

"To be fair, most of time he's rescuing you from getting hurt..."

"Bou-san! You should be on my side!"

"I'm not getting involved..."

"Yes you are! You should be on my side! You're ganging up on me! Argh!" She stood up, grabbing her cardigan, and walked out the door slamming it behind her.

"I don't think she'll be making you tea..."

Naru made his own tea. Monk had sat down on one of the sofas.

"Bou-san, feel free to leave."

"I'll stay."

Naru glared at him.

"The reason why you're not taking the case is because you're scared that Mai will get hurt, right?"

"I'm worried that the ghost will have enough power to kill someone this time."

"E.g. Mai."

"What exactly are you getting at?"

"You know..."

"No, I don't. Now leave." Naru retreated into his office.

Monk didn't leave, but instead made himself an ice coffee, and was drinking it when the door opened.

"Oh, hey."

"Hello~! Are you feeling better now?" Madoka inquired, in her usual optimistic way.

"Yeah thanks." Monk grinned at the bubbly pink-haired woman.

"Are Mai and Naru in?"

"Mai stormed out about 10 minutes ago, Naru's in there." He jerked his thumb towards Naru's office.

"Mai stormed out? Why?"

"She got annoyed at Naru, he won't take a case. Says it's too dangerous."

Madoka nodded. "Oh. Is it?"

Monk shrugged. "I dunno."

Madoka smiled and nodded, then entered Naru's office. Probably to tell Naru off for annoying Mai again.

About 10 minutes later Mai came in again, and gave Monk an accusing glance.

"Oh Mai, Madoka came in."

Mai brightened up. Madoka would surely take her side, after all, and she liked Madoka. Madoka walked out of Naru's office, but when she saw Mai she smiled.

"Hello Mai~! Are you feeling better?"

"Yea, thank you. Listen, you've got to be on my side for this, Naru really needs to take this case..."

"I heard. Tell me, what's the case about?"

Mai quickly told her, highlighting the fact that the family was suffering because Naru was being a... not taking the case. Madoka nodded understandingly.

"Well, I'll have a word with him..."

"It's just so unfair on the family!"

"Exactly."

Mai paused.

"Do you have a family?"

"No..."

"You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were Lin's wife."

Madoka laughed, making her way back to Naru's office. The following day, with Mai and Madoka's combined efforts, the client was called and they arranged to leave the next weekend.

* * *

"Ne Naru... Isn't Yasuhara coming?" Mai asked cheerfully.

"No." Naru was not in a good mood. Namely because Lin and Madoka had ganged up on him...

_They were all ready, just waiting for Bou-san and Ayako to arrive. The van was loaded, and Naru was starting to get irritated, when Bou-san's car parked on the corner and they sprang out. _

_Of course Mai had rushed to meet them, despite having seen them yesterday. Lin had calmly got into the van and was waiting. Madoka jumped in beside him, dragging Hara-san with her. _

_Naru had, of course, complained, but Madoka was a formidable woman. Even Lin was on her side. _

That was how Naru had ended up in Monk's car, much to his displeasure. And the others amusement. Mai was happy though, as she got to talk on a journey for once.

"Why not?"

"He can't defend himself." His eyes never left the page of the file.

"But you say I can't defend myself!"

"You are useful on cases. And you will be defended."

"Who says I want to be _defended_? I can defend myself!"

"Ahh, but Naru will be defending you, so you won't be complaining." Monk grinned as he saw Mai's blush in the mirror.

They arrived at the destination, a medium sized hotel in a town near Kasumigaura Lake.

"Waaaa! It's so pretty!"

"Mai, stop goofing off and get to work."

"I'm not goofing off, you..." Her sentence was cut short by the man who had first come to the office coming out.

"Ah, I'm so glad you could make it." He bowed. "We don't many visitors anymore, you see, so we are always aware of cars coming and going."

"Could you show us to our base?"

"Yes, of course. My wife can sort out anything you will need, but I'm afraid that we have had to let some people go..."

"Of course."

They entered the lobby and walked down several corridors until they came to a door.

"I'm afraid it's small, but I think it will do."

Naru confirmed that the base was fine, and they set up all the equipment there. Ayako and Masako were sent to see if they sensed anything, and Mai went too after begging to be allowed to explore the hotel.

The hotel was reasonably empty. Only once or twice they saw guests, and they were often with suitcases or rucksacks.

"It's sad, isn't it? This is quite a nice hotel, and yet all the guests have been scared away..."

Suddenly Mai saw a sign.

"They have a pool?"

"Evidently. I wonder what it's like."

They made their way to the indoor pool.

"Wow... it's so cool..."

"Maybe if you ask Naru nicely we could all go for a swim."

"I didn't bring a swimming suit..."

"Neither did I actually."

"I didn't either..."

"Oh..."

"Never mind."

After some wandering, they ended back in the lobby. Masako said that the spirit was hiding.

"Maybe it's shy..."

"But it's been attacking guests, hasn't it? I doubt it would be shy."

"Jeez, you sounded like Naru there for a moment."

"I think it's probably an earth spirit."

"Ayako, how many times have you said that, and it turned out it wasn't an earth spirit?"

"..."

"Exactly."

They all bought some shaved ice, and started eating them in the lobby.

"You know, it would have been nice, going for a swim."

"You could always go in your clothes."

"...no."

"What an improper thing to do..."

"You wouldn't go swimming in a kimono, Masako."

"You shouldn't go swimming in your clothes!"

Ayako and Mai giggled at Masako's earnest face. They continued to wander through the hotel, confirming that Masako couldn't sense any spirit presence. They headed back, bumping into Monk on the way. He thrust a camera into each pair of hands.

"I am _not_ walking all the way back!" Ayako protested.

"Come on Ayako! I had to set up the cameras all by myself!"

"Why didn't anyone help you?"

"John feels ill..."

"What about Madoka?"

"She refused."

"Well, I'm sure if you told her how you felt she would have helped..."

"Number one she was helping Lin with something, and number two this is the woman who can intimidate Lin and Naru!"

"Point taken."

At last all the cameras where set up and they all trooped back to base. Naru looked up as they entered.

"I don't pay you to slack off and eat shaved ice. When I send you to do work, actually do it."

"How do you know we were eating shaved ice?"

Madoka giggled.

"Naru has eyes like a hawk."

"Masako said she can't sense any spirits yet again."

"Well, you said that you thought it was an earth spirit! It's never an earth spirit!"

"Well, you're not a perfect medium, are you?"

Mai sighed as Masako and Ayako had yet another argument.

* * *

**teehee, Naru's all knowing huh? Well, not quite XD**

At long last, a free afternoon, so I'm relaxing, listening to my music... and of course writing. This story is much like my art though, I have no idea where it's going. Currently.

Cass and I also are arguing over how much the others know about Naru being Oliver Davis, so they may not find out for while... *sigh*


	49. 8 Prejudice part 3

Prejudice, Part 3

Competition

Mai stretched happily. Though the hotel wasn't that big, the rooms were great. And so were the beds. She got dressed, not bothering to wait for Ayako, and went to breakfast. She joined Lin, Naru and John at the table.

"Wow, business really is slow..." She commented as she sat down with a heap of food piled on her plate. There were only two other tables where people sat. On one was a family: mother, father, two teenage daughters and a little boy. At the other two young men sat, deep in discussion.

John nodded. "Looks like it's only us..."

"Unfortunately, as you say, business is slow. Our only guests these days seem to be people out to be scared, unless someone comes from faraway..." The owner suddenly popped up behind Mai.

"Good morning, Saito-san!" Chimed John and Mai. Saito Ryo bowed.

"Are you alright, Brown-san? You look a bit off colour."

"I'm fine, thank you." Ryo nodded and took his leave.

After breakfast they started their interviews. Ryo went first, telling them everyone who he could remember. His wife told them much the same information. Then they interviewed the family and two men who had been at breakfast.

"Sorry, we can't help you. You see we came here to prove that ghosts don't exist." The elder of the two looked smug.

"They do! Ignore Naoyuki, he doesn't believe in spiritual stuff."

"Well, so far this ghost doesn't seem to have done much does it?"

The young men left. Next was the family: the mother and father came first, they were both about 40. Their son, who looked about 6, was being carried in his father's arms.

"I hope you don't mind. He's really tired, and he won't bother you..."

"I'm sure he's lovely. What's his name?" Mai immediately asked.

"Ahem. Have you experienced any paranormal activity while here?" Naru interrupted.

"No... I didn't realise there were any ghosts." They looked fearfully at each other.

"Oh, they're here as well!" The woman grabbed her husband's hand.

"It's okay, I'm sure it's just a false alarm."

"Do you have ghosts at home?" Mai asked, eyes wide. They nodded.

"Naru..."

"Mai, we can't take every single case. Anyway, have you experienced anything here?"

"No." They left and the teenager daughters came. One of them looked about 19 and the other about 16.

"Have you experienced any paranormal activity while here?" He knew that it was unlikely if the parents hadn't, but teenage girls didn't tell their parents everything.

"Nope, sorry." Said the 16 year old, leaning forward. Mai had a hunch she was trying to show off her cleavage to Naru.

"That's all."

"If we meet any ghosts, we can count on you, right?" asked the 16 year old, flicking her long hair over her shoulder, and ignoring the many glares that Mai was sending.

"Count on who you want." Naru was leafing through various papers.

"Let's go, Mami." The 19 year old said, opening the door.

Mami looked annoyed, but left, exaggerating her walk so her hips swayed more. The door shut behind the pair.

"What a ******, ***-!" She exploded, as Monk restrained her.

"Calm down Mai, we all know Naru's only interested in one female, and it definitely isn't 'Mami'" He let go, but Mai still continued to grumble to herself for the next ten minutes or so. Monk winked at Naru, who, being Naru, ignored it.

"Where's John?" Mai asked once she had calmed down.

"Still in bed. He really doesn't feel well."

"Poor him. Maybe we should buy him something to cheer him up."

"That's an idea! Naru, we'll be back soon!" And before Naru knew it, Mai, Monk, Ayako and Masako had gone, leaving him and Lin alone in base.

* * *

"So, what should we get him?" Mai asked, peering in a shop window.

"What would he like?"

"Probably anything we get him."

"True..."

"I guess food would be a bit harsh."

"Does he listen to music?"

"I doubt that, he's a priest."

"Priests can listen to music too!"

"Prime example standing right here!"

"Bou-san isn't a priest."

"Maybe we should get him a book, he could read it while he's in bed."

About an hour later they bought a book (they hoped that he would like it) and knocked on the boy's room door.

"John? Are you awake?"

No answer.

"John?"

"Maybe he's asleep."

"We could leave the book next to him, then when he wakes up he'll get it."

"What if we wake him?"

"Don't worry, we'll be quiet."

They slowly opened the door and peeked in. John's bed was empty.

"Maybe he felt better and went to base."

They went to base. John wasn't there either.

"Naru, have you seen John?"

"No. Why?"

"He's not in his bed..."

Naru frowned.

"Lin, is he on any of the monitors?"

"No."

Monk left the book on the table. "We'll go looking for him."

"Lin, stay here in case he comes back."

Everyone except Lin left base to search for John.

"Where do you think he went?"

"We'll check the woods first."

They checked the small forest, but he wasn't there.

They searched the hotel, but they couldn't find him there either.

They went back to base, but Lin said that he hadn't seen him.

They found Ryo, and told him that they couldn't find one of their members. He was apologetic, but what could he do? So he asked the remaining staff to do a search. No one voiced it, but they all thought back to the mine.

"Where's the ghost?" Naru asked Masako quietly when they gathered in reception.

"I don't know! I can't sense him anywhere!" Masako cried, evidently distressed. Ayako patted her shoulder.

They were interrupted by a loud scream from outside. Everyone's heads snapped up to see Mami staring up at something. Their feet automatically ran towards trouble (the human species is weird like that), their eyes stared upwards.

"Oh my God!" Mai's eyes widened.

* * *

John woke up, his head throbbing and the world spinning. He felt sick. His stomach flipped as he got unsteadily to his feet and looked around. He paled, and quickly sat down, feeling more sick.

The rooftop sloped away from him, both upwards and downwards, and it was a long way to the ground. And what was more he felt the strange need to look over the edge, much in the same way you lie on your front and peek over the edge of a cliff. He shook himself mentally, and tried to get rid of that nagging feeling.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something, or rather saw the absence of something. He could feel eyes on the back of his head, watching his every move, but there was no one there.

"H-hello?" He called, but the only reply was the wind.

The nagging feeling was growing with every moment, so he cautiously started to crawl to the edge.

Closer... closer...

He peeked his head over the gutter, holding it so hard that his knuckles went white. The drop was dizzyingly far. He was sure that the hotel hadn't been _that_ many storeys high...

A girl screamed. John stared at the ground, feeling the world spin. Not good.

"John!" A loud voice rang through the quiet stillness after the scream had died. "Move back from the edge!"

John nodded, and gladly moved back, the dizziness staying with him. He screwed his eyes shut.

Naru turned to Ryo, who had come out when he heard Mami screaming. "Is there a way to get onto the roof?"

Ryo nodded. "There's a door, but we don't really use it..."

"Where is it?"

"This way..."

"John! We're coming up! Stay still, okay!" Mai turned and ran after everyone, who was following Ryo.

Ryo quickly walked down corridors and up stairs. He opened a door onto a small balcony, and then he came to another door, with paint peeling off. He fumbled for a few moments in his coat pocket, then took out a set of keys and put the keys in. The lock clicked as the door was locked.

"Eh? This door is kept locked..." Ryo said, clearly nervous.

He unlocked it again, revealing a small, grey room with some metal, curling stairs. They climbed up them, metal creaking occasionally.

"As I said, we don't really come up here often..."

He unlocked another door and they stepped out onto the roof.

"Gosh, it's so big! John!" Mai called into the wind. Naru was already moving around, walking carefully over the tiles. "John!"

John got up to his feet unsteadily, arms waving. "I-I'm here..."

Naru grabbed his arm and carefully walked back, going slowly so John would have time to place his feet without stumbling.

"John! Are you okay?" Mai asked when they were off the roof and climbing down the stairs. He nodded.

"Yeah... just scared... You don't think this ghost is going to take advantage of our fears?"

Mai shuddered. "I hope not..." She still could remember clearly digging out Naru's body from the rubble... Alright, it wasn't actually his body, but it had been shock...

"Has this ever happened before?" Naru asked Ryo.

"No-one's ever been on the roof before."

"This shouldn't be happening..."

"What?"

Mai pitched in. "Normally, ghosts are shy, so when new people come there shouldn't be any activity for a while. But Naru only takes cases that interest him, so normally we end up dealing with ghosts that aren't shy."

"This ghost isn't shy- this is a hotel. Once it attacked a hotel inspector, on her first night here."

Back in base, John was fussed over by just about everyone. Mai made tea, Ayako checked for injuries, Monk gave him the book they had bought, Ryo made him hot chocolate...

And Naru asked him if he could remember anything.

"No... I was in bed, and then I was on the roof. But I swear, on the roof something was watching me... But it definitely wasn't there."

"That was probably the ghost."

Mai narrowed her eyes at Naru. He could be nicer, couldn't he? He knew John was scared of heights.

"You know, Mami-san thought you were suicidal."

"...Mami-san?"

"Oh yeah, you were in bed when we did the interviews. She's a guest here..."

"I should go back to bed; I don't want to give my cold to you..."

"You can't have a cold, it's June!"

"You can get summer colds..." He sniffed, as if to prove his point. "Anyway, it'll probably just pass with rest."

Mai screwed up her face slightly. "John, we can't leave you on your own. The ghost might target you again."

"Oh yeah..."

"You don't think we could get a sofa in here, do you? Sofas are generally useful to have in a base."

"No."

"Or a beanie bag?"

"Err... I don't think they have beanie bags."

"I feel better now, anyway."

"John! You were just on the roof for... some time!"

"Yes, but I did just have tea _and _hot chocolate."

"..."

* * *

**Sorry we didn't update earlier...**

**Thanks for all the reviews! ^^I always get really excited when we get a review...  
**

**We're not quite sure when Mai and Naru will get together... we make up this story as we go along, so we can't say anything for sure. Hopefully soon. But Naru is progressing! Honestly...**


	50. 8 Prejudice part 4

Prejudice, Part 4

Search Party

They persuaded John to take a painkiller, but he ended up staying in base with the rest of them.

With John off the roof, suddenly everything seemed still. The ghost was silent, and no-one could be sure of what it was going to do next.

The base seemed still, too, despite the fact that Ayako and Monk were fighting. John was reading, Masako was reading over his shoulder, Lin and Madoka were talking quietly, Naru was reading, and Mai was daydreaming.

"Mai, tea."

Mai stood up.

"Someone, go with her." He waved his hand slightly to symbolise that he didn't care who went with her, as long as it wasn't him.

"Madoka, can you come with me?" Mai asked before Ayako or Monk could insist on coming and teasing her relentlessly. Madoka beamed.

"Of course."

Ryo graciously gave them use of the kitchen, as long as it was for tea. They were on their way back when they ran into Mami's mother.

"Excuse me, have you seen my son?"

"No..."

The woman burst into tears. "I can't find him anywhere..."

"I'm sure he's just playing somewhere..." Madoka tried to comfort her and Mai awkwardly gave her the tea that was meant for Naru. The woman took a sip chokingly. Madoka and Mai escorted her to base. When they entered base, Naru looked up, annoyed, but then arched an eyebrow. Why did this woman have his tea?

"She can't find her son." Mai quickly explained. Lin browsed through the monitors.

"No sign of him."

The woman looked even more pained.

"What happened?"

"He was playing, and then, suddenly, he was gone..."

"Gone?"

"I turned, just for an instant, and then he wasn't there when I turned around again..."

She cried into the tea. Naru was starting to doubt whenever the tea would taste like tea by the time she got to drink it.

It was awkward for a few moments, but then the door opened. Ryo stood there. He looked upset.

"My son... he's gone missing again..."

"What? Yours too?"

Ryo titled his head slightly, confused.

"My son went missing too..." the mother mumbled through her tears.

"Well, we're not going to achieve anything by sitting here."

They searched in groups.

John opted to stay at base, because he wasn't feeling too good. Masako volunteered to stay with him.

Madoka, Lin, Mai and Naru were in one group.

Ayako, Monk, Ryo and Mami's father were in the second group.

"We'll be searching outside." Naru stated bluntly.

Despite the warm weather, Mai shivered. A 3 year old and a 6 year old were wandering around somewhere, lost...

They briefly searched around the base of the hotel, but no stray children showed up.

The woods leered over them.

"Luckily, these woods are reasonably small."

Dry twigs snapped underfoot, but that was the only sound.

"It's too quiet..."

"I agree. There aren't even any birds..."

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Mai called, ears straining for a sound, but there was none.

Mai tripped over a small rock, her flailing arms nearly bringing Naru down too.

"Idiot."

Mai was about to yell at him because of the insult, when she got a curious feeling, like someone was watching her. She looked behind her, but there wasn't anyone there.

"Mai? What's wrong?"

"Nothing... I just felt like someone was watching me, but I must have imagined it." She got up and laughed nervously. They continued walking.

The forest was empty.

* * *

Monk avoided another hit from Ayako by getting Ryo in between him and Ayako. She never really did stop taking out her anger on him, did she?

They did check the roof, but, thankfully or unthankfully, they weren't there. Monk whipped out his mobile and texted Mai. The group made their way back inside, Ryo and Mami's father warily following the battling Monk and Miko. They simultaneously winced as one blow hit its target, both thinking about the anger of females.

"Could you stop hitting me?"

Ayako paused. This was new.

"Err..." There was a silence. They continued walking.

They searched from top to bottom. Nothing. Hundreds of rooms waited to be searched. Every room was opened with the master key, every cupboard and wardrobe searched. The two young men were roped in as well, much to Monk's displeasure as he noticed they were both quite good looking. This small fact didn't escape Ayako either.

After a fruitless search they met up with Naru, Lin, Mai and Madoka in the lobby. Ryo and Mami's father happily sidled away from Monk and Ayako, who were yet again arguing.

Both parties exchanged their disappointment, and then agreed to swap areas. Naru's group searched the hotel, visiting every room that had already been searched, meanwhile Monk's group split in two and strolled through the woods. They even wandered down the lane to the main road and asked in the town. Both groups reached the same conclusion: the little boys were nowhere to be found.

"This is ridiculous, they must be somewhere! One of them's only three." Ayako burst out.

"But we've searched everywhere." Mai pointed out.

"No we haven't."

"So where haven't we searched, Mr All-Knowing?"

"I don't know. But if they we haven't found them we can't have searched everywhere, by logic. Baka."

Ryo and Shuko (Mami's father) rolled their eyes. After all, they had been listening to three different arguments for most of the time (the third being the young men. Not in a romantic way).

They went back to base, but Masako and John hadn't seen anything on the monitors. They were all stumped. The two fathers disappointedly reported to their family. The police were called, and they soon arrived.

"DI Fujimoto." The man reached into his pocket and pulled open his ID (we don't know what police inspectors are called in Japan, so we just called him what they're called in England :P ). He was tall, tanned, and his hair had streaks of grey in it. He looked in his late 40s, and his face, though his mouth was set in a grim line, had fine wrinkles around his eyes and laughter lines.

His colleague gave Ryo suspicious looks. He was much younger, with small eyes and an expressionless face, which gave him a rather mean look.

"Alright Ryo-san, who is it this time?" The detective sighed.

"My son, Sora, and one of our guest's son, Katsuro-kun." Mumbled Ryo. The younger police officer gave him another look. He gave a description of the little boys. Fujimoto scribbled something in a notebook, and snapped it shut.

"I take it you've done a thorough search?" Ryo nodded. "I guess I'll do one too, just in case."

"Of course." The two men nodded and left, the younger glancing back over his shoulder and then whispering to the detective. The two men walked methodically through the hotel. The others went back to their work. And of course Naru sent Mai and Masako to go and fix one of the cameras, as it wasn't showing an image.

Shall we say the journey was mostly silent? It would be fairly accurate. Masako glided silently through the corridors while Mai bounced along beside her. They could hear raised voices further down. Silently, they glanced at each other, and curiously walked towards the sounds.

"Can't you see? It's obviously him. You should have arrested him ages ago!"

"I don't think it is." A calmer, more measured voice said.

"Oh, and you believe this cock and bull story about ghosts?" (AN: not swearing, that's just the expression)

"I never said I did. I just said he's innocent."

"Pah!" The younger man flung the door to the room open, then glared down at the two girls, one pale and perfect, the other trembling with anger.

"Ghosts are real!" Mai cried. The man sneered.

"Yeah, in the same way the witches and vampires are."

"They aren't, but ghosts are! I would know..."

"Look little girl, I don't have time for you, or your childish nonsense." He stormed past the pair.

"How rude." Masako commented.

"I apologise for my colleague, he's... well, he's had some unpleasant experiences..." Fujimoto bowed, and followed him.

"I wonder what experience he's had." Mai wondered out loud. Masako shrugged slightly.

"Come on, we don't want Naru to be mad at us."

* * *

"That was weird." Monk shrugged.

"I wonder what could have been that bad..." Ayako pondered.

Naru snapped his file shut, a clear sign that he was _not_ in a good mood. The others glanced at him, before continuing their conversation. Admittedly a tad quieter. He drummed his fingers on the table, but didn't look at his team.

_At least he isn't angry with us._ Mai thought.

He stood up and left the room, not saying where he was going, as per usual.

"Where's he going?"

Monk shrugged. "Dunno."

There was some silence for a few moments.

"Maybe we should follow him?"

"What, like stalkers?"

"No. Don't be silly."

"He _is_ silly."

"Come on, we'll never find him!" They all jumped up and left base, wondering where Naru could have gone. They ran down corridors, and peered around corners.

"We lost him!"

"I think he's gone downstairs."

"Why would he go downstairs?"

"I dunno..."

"Ignore him, he's going senile."

"And you're so young yourself!" This earned the monk a hit around the head.

"This way!" Mai carried on, while the pair bickered, and Masako and John despaired. She led them to the lift, and pressed for ground floor. By the time they reached the bottom there was a universal agreement to leave Monk and Ayako behind.

Mai happily danced around the corner and –

"Mai, what are you doing?" A cool voice asked.

"Ah. We found him. I _said_ he was downstairs, and what did you say? Ignore him, he's senile. Hah, showed you." Monk turned on Ayako.

"Hello Ryo-san." John nodded to the older man walking next to Naru.

"We were looking for you." Masako explained. Naru rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Well, you keep on walking off, and not telling us where you're going!" Mai accused.

"If you're that worried about me you can just ask." Naru stated coldly, watching her blush and squirm. "If you want to know, we're going to the basement."

"What basement? You never said there was a basement." Mai looked suitably confused and cute.

Naru sighed and ignored her. Ryo hesitantly started walking again and the others followed. He led them along a couple more corridors, then down a flight of stairs. At the bottom was a small room painted white, with a set of double doors at the other end. They passed through the doors into another room. Boxes were stacked against the edges, but it was fairly empty.

"There are two more rooms." Ryo pointed to a couple of doors.

"Make sure you're not on your own, and remember to look everywhere." Naru ordered, and the group nodded and set off. Mai, Monk and Ayako took the room to the left, while John and Masako stayed in the room, and Ryo and Naru took the final room.

They searched along the shelves, in and behind boxes, calling out. Monk shook his head, frustrated.

"They're not here. Should we go and help the others?" He asked, just as John came running in, smiling.

"We've found them!" He cried.

The four ran out of the room, to find Ryo holding the youngest boy, while Masako soothed the six year old.

* * *

**Danah! Chapter 50!**

**With some luck we will be updating faster, because we have a weeks half term. Yay! *jumps up and down* And now we have Ghost Hunt volumes 2,3 and 4, with volumes 1 and 5 on their way. ^^**


	51. 8 Prejudice part 5

Prejudice, Part 5

Swimming

The boys were put to bed and they informed the police of the finding. SPR sat in base, twiddling their thumbs.

"Mai, tea." Naru automatically said. He wasn't in a great mood- he had had to bat off Mami while she tried to hug him and call him brave. Unfortunately Mami didn't know when a guy wasn't interested. Fortunately, her sister did, and he'd managed to escape early enough.

"And an ice coffee for me."

"I'll have a tea too."

"Just orange juice please."

"Do you have any herbal teas?"

"..." Mai froze under the barrage of orders.

"Mai is not a waiter." Naru said calmly.

"WHAT? You treat her like a waiter!" Ayako pointed out.

"I also pay her."

"It's alright, I'll help." John offered, standing up. Inside Mai smiled in relief.

"It's okay John, big brother Bou-san will help!" The smile vanished faster than the speed of light.

"No, I wouldn't-"

"I'll come too." Mai cringed. Ayako and Bou-san? She wondered how much help she was actually going to get.

They were on the third floor, but the kitchen was on the ground floor. She sighed, resigned to her fate. On the bright side most of the trip was spent with Monk and Ayako bickering in the background, which wasn't too bad. Comparatively.

"So Mai, when are you going to tell him?" Mai blushed and cringed inwardly.

"Tell who what?" She said, completely innocently.

"Even your ears are red Mai. You know what she means." Mai quickly covered the offending ears.

"He's never going to ask you out..." Ayako sighed and fell to studying her nails.

"Because he doesn't like me!"

"How are they so blind?"

"Beats me." They fell to whispering with each other, which just made Mai even more nervous. _They do this to me every case!_ She thought angrily. _Well, maybe it's payback time._

She paused in her train of thoughts and shivered. Suddenly the air seemed slightly colder, and she could feel eyes on the back of her head. She spun around, but couldn't see anyone.

"Mai? Are you okay?"

"Did you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"That..."

"Nope."

"You didn't? Oh..." Said Mai, confused. Ayako and Monk watched her curiously.

"Why? What was it?"

"Like eyes... watching me... but there's no-one there..."

"That's weird. Do you think it's a spirit?" Monk asked.

"Of course it's a spirit you idiot!" Insert various noises of pain, punches and slaps. "Maybe next time Masako could come with you?"

"Oh yeah, that's really going to work, seeing as they're both in love with the same guy."

"Shut up! There's a camera just around that corner!" Mai complained.

"But we weren't talking about you, so what's the problem?"

"Ayako, make him shut up, please..."

"Gladly."

Monk, however, ran away from Ayako and started using Mai as a human shield.

"Mai don't let her get to me!"

"Both of you shut up! I didn't mean it like that! Now, am I going to get any help with this or not?"

They had reached the kitchen, which was suspiciously empty.

"3 teas... check... ice coffee... check... orange juice... not check." Mai started looking for the fridge. She opened a tall metal cupboard next to the freezer. If it was a fridge, there was no orange juice. Or any juice, for that matter.

"Gah! Why aren't there any staff here when you need them! Ayako, Bou-san, help me!" The said Ayako and Monk were currently bickering again. After a few more minutes of searching the sought after orange juice carton was found, and Mai started pouring some into a glass, when, somehow, something (or more likely someone) jolted Mai, and then jolted her hand...

The result: Some orange juice in the glass, some on the table, and some on Mai's top.

To say that she was peeved would be an understatement.

"You two! Now look what you made me do!" She scowled at the orange stain on her green shirt. Orange and green. Not a great colour combination. Ayako and Monk had enough sense to realise that their safest option was to flee. Quickly.

"You're meant to be helping me, and all you can do is bicker bicker bicker! You're like schoolchildren-" She hadn't got to the end of her sentence by the time Ayako and Monk had gone. They had also poured the orange juice, and taken all the drinks with them, in a bid to cool her temper. It wasn't really working, but it was nice that she didn't have to do it herself. And the orange juice had soaked through her top and a few cold droplets ran down her skin. It was a similar feeling to when someone drops an ice cube down your back.

Her anger was melting away, being replaced by a light nervousness. She was all alone, and no one seemed to be anywhere near. She put the orange juice away,

BANG.

She jumped and shrieked. However it was only a waiter, returning to the kitchen.

"Ah, thank god. You gave me a heart attack!"

He looked faintly confused. She smiled sheepishly.

"I was just getting some drinks, but I er... spilt some juice on myself. Bye!" And she quickly ran out, in case he thought her too weird. Although he probably did already.

* * *

Ayako and Monk entered base, having run there as fast as they could without major spillage.

"Where's Mai?"

The duo looked sheepish.

"She spilt some orange juice on herself and got mad, so we, er, legged it." Monk explained.

"Don't worry Naru-chan, Mai made your tea. And we haven't done anything with it either."

"But you left her alone?"

"Well... yes, but-"

"Again. Do I work with idiots?" There was a sheepish silence. Naru sighed, and surreptitiously glanced at the screens. Satisfied, he continued reading his file.

Mai came in some minutes later, albeit angry. And in a different top. Ayako and Monk made a point of not making eye contact with her.

"My favourite top!" She whined.

"It'll wash out..." Ayako said hopefully.

"Yes, but I can't wear it now!" She sent imitation-Naru-glares in her direction.

"Naru?" John asked from the window. Naru looked up. "Are we needed right now?"

Naru thought for a second. Mai's whinging was annoying him, and the noise was a distraction from his ideal of peaceful reading, and they weren't currently doing anything...

"No."

"Mai? Do you want to go swimming?" Naru almost smiled in satisfaction. Surely she wouldn't say no...

"But we don't have any swimming costumes."

"I think I have a solution."

* * *

"What's taking them so long?" Monk asked an equally confused John. His foot started to tap. They had been waiting for about twenty minutes, and after a while imagining what could have happened to make them late had gotten boring.

"Well, I'm not waiting..." Monk unfolded his arms.

"But they did ask-"

"John, I'm not wasting time doing nothing." He grabbed his towel and strode towards the door. John followed him. They walked around the corner. Monk dropped his towel on a chair and took a run up.

"Bou-san!"

His head emerged. He grinned.

"You. Got. Me. WET!" Ayako screamed from a sun lounger. Monk grinned wider. For once he was safe from her violent reactions.

"But seeing as you're already wet, you won't mind getting more wet!"

"Bou-san, I think-" John started, only to be interrupted by Ayako screaming with rage when Monk started splashing her.

Mai tugged at Masako's hand. "Come on, let's jump in!" Masako hesitated, but then nodded. "Watch out Bou-san! Make way for us!"

Ayako grimaced. "Not you two as well!"

"One... two... three!"

Quite a bit of water splashed onto Ayako, the only one not in the pool (John had decided to calmly climb in).

"Urgh! You lot are horrible!" Ayako stood up and moved to a sun lounger that was further away from the pool. However, this only made Monk more determined, and he still managed to splash her.

"Come on Ayako! You're in a swimming suit, for heaven's sake!"

"That's because I'm sunbathing! That doesn't mean you have to get me all wet!"

"Yeah, it does..."

Mai scrambled out of the pool and tugged on Ayako's arm. Monk jumped out of the swimming pool, a determined glint in his eye. Ayako gulped and started to run away. Alas, Monk was definitely faster than she was, and soon he caught her, picked her up and walked calmly to the edge, as Ayako was struggling desperately.

"1...2...3!"

Splash!

"What did you do that for? Now my hair is all wet!"

Monk climbed in and swam to her. "Come on, it's not that bad..."

She pouted. "Yes it is!"

Masako giggled from the shallow end. Although she knew how to work her arms and legs, she felt somewhat safer if she could feel the tiled ground beneath her toes.

"I thought you didn't like water..." Mai asked her.

"I'm having swimming lessons, but I'm not very good." She said.

"Can you sit underwater?" Masako shook her head. "Like this!" She held her nose and sank to the bottom, pushing her arms upwards and breathing out. She looked up at Masako's somewhat distorted face and waved. Masako tried, but kept floating up to the surface. Mai laughed, sucking in some water. She jumped up, coughing.

She looked at the others. Ayako had climbed out of the water and returned to sunbathing. John was floating on his back and Monk... Monk was stealthily swimming underwater towards John. Which couldn't bode well. Only three people from her family were missing.

Her tender thoughts were interrupted by John's yelp and Masako's giggle as Monk dragged him under the water.

Naru watched from the window, finding it hard to believe that his colleagues still acted like children all the time. Of course he should have been used to it by now, but...

He sat down and continued reading. Silence reigned for once in the base. He flicked through the files Yasuhara had emailed, and he had printed off, skim reading to try and see if there was a connection.

The first person who went missing: a teenage girl. The second was an elderly man. Complete opposites. In fact, there seemed to be little pattern. All the people were either very young or very old with little in between. The only adult was a woman in her thirties, but they weren't sure whether or not that was the ghost as she had a record of getting lost everywhere she went. And John, though why he was taken he wasn't sure. Naru rubbed his forehead in frustration.

Strangely enough though, the ghost hadn't picked on Mai yet. She hadn't had any dreams either, or at least she hadn't told him if she had. He sighed. This case was going nowhere and three people had been moved while he was there. And the rest of SPR had known this and used it as an excuse to slack off. Why would they want to go swimming anyway? There's nothing that exciting about front/back crawl.

He stood up and went to the window. Sure enough, they were not swimming. As far as he could tell Monk was murdering John while Mai and Hara-san laughed. And Ayako was, as per usual, doing nothing.

"You can always go swimming too, Noll."

Naru scowled. Lin was watching him with a bemused glint in his eyes. A glint that Naru did not like one bit. Not to mention, was completely un-Lin like. Somehow, being surrounded by the others had made Lin more... what's the word?

If Naru were not Naru he would have thought of 'human', but unfortunately (or fortunately) he was, so was left struggling to find the right word. Probably for the first time in his life.

* * *

**Sorry this took so long, soooo much work! not to mention Cass has exams next week**. **Happily, I don't :)So instead of revising i have been making silly faces on my calculator. I know, I'm that cool.  
**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed!  
**


	52. 8 Prejudice part 6

Prejudice, Part 6

Drowning

Naru glared at the file. They were still swimming. Or, pretending to swim.

After all these hours?

And no-one was dead yet. Maybe they would only stop when someone actually died.

He still hadn't found a connection. And the silence was annoying him, something he thought he'd never think.

He decided that it was paranoia. He honestly didn't want one of his members to be drowned.

He tried pacing, but it didn't work. Lin finding it absolutely hilarious was getting on his nerves. His patience tried, he scribbled something on a piece of paper before going downstairs. He paused, watching the chaos. He wasn't quite sure why, but somehow it interested and amused him.

Not to mention, Mai actually looked quite nice in a swimming suit. She had a body to show it off.

No, he didn't just think that.

He banged the innocent piece of paper against the defenceless window.

Wow, they actually noticed him. They all stopped swimming/talking/complaining /teasing/drowning and looked up at him. Mai yelled something, but he couldn't quite hear what it was.

However they made their way to the side. Mai jumped out and walked towards the wall.

"Aw, come on Naru, it's fun. Five more minutes? You can join in!"

Naru glared at her. He did not see how swimming could be fun after a couple of hours in any way, shape or form. And he definitely was not prepared to find out.

"Mai...Out. It's dinner time anyway." He turned away, missing Mai poking her tongue out at him. But she got out anyway, as did the others, and got dressed. Soon they were going down to dinner. Well, most of them were going down to dinner.

"What's Ayako doing?" A baffled monk asked.

"Drying her hair..."

"Er, why?"

"Cos it's wet." Mai gave him a look. Monk frowned.

"Oh, here she is." She walked to the table and plopped into the nearest available seat. Mami looked up from a nearby table. Mai watched her suspiciously as she stood up and walked towards them. However Mami passed by the table without incident, only glancing at Naru once, twice, thrice... Mai was satisfied to see that he didn't even notice. Mami did not appear quite so satisfied.

She returned about five minutes later. As she was passing the table she tripped over, and bent down to tie her shoelace. Standing up she smiled brightly at the table.

"I'm fine." She said. Mai blushed with anger. Mami didn't notice the 'get-away-he's-mine' vibes being sent in epic numbers in her direction. Monk laughed as Mami left.

"Hey, Naru, you've got a fan!" Naru sent him evils. "I mean, a new fan. You're gaining quite a collection." Mai and Masako also sent him evils.

"You're quite the heart breaker, ne Naru?" Ayako joined in.

"Mai you're getting water on me." He said smoothing away several droplets that landed on his shirt.

All three ignored Monk and Ayako for almost the rest of the dinner.

* * *

The next day was just as hot as the last. Mai woke up early from the sun shining through the curtains. Also the birds had decided to sing their hearts out at about six.

Sleepily she stumbled into the base, much to the surprise of Lin who had gotten used to Mai and Naru's daily argument about her lateness.

"Be quiet Mai-san." He whispered, gesturing to a black blob on the sofa.

Naru had fallen asleep on the sofa, half way through reading the file. His face had buried itself into the armrest and his arm hung limply over the side, the file on the ground from where it had fallen out of his grip. Mai was more than happy to just sit and stare at his peaceful face. However Lin was there...

To stop herself she sat on the floor and leaned against the arm of the sofa by his feet.

"How long's he been asleep for?"

"He was still here when I went to bed." He turned around and continued typing. Mai liked these rare moments where Naru was asleep and the only sound was the soothing tap tap of Lin's typing. Strange, because when she started it had slightly got on her nerves...

Before she knew it she was asleep too. Lin turned around and smiled at the sight of Naru asleep on the sofa and Mai asleep on the floor next to it. Though it probably wasn't too comfortable for her.

About an hour passed and then Monk and John wandered in. Apparently the sun woke them up too. Monk stared at the scene for a second, and then grinned widely.

"Do you think Naru likes Mai, Lin-san?" He asked innocently. Always a bad sign. Lin nodded suspiciously.

"Does he know?" A suspicious shake of the head this time.

"What are you planning Bou-san?" John asked. Monk bent down and whispered in his ear. John's blue eyes opened wide. Lin was curious, to say the least. Monk went to him and whispered. Lin looked straight ahead for a while, thinking it over. Slowly he nodded. It was, after all, time he realised...

Monk looked at his work with satisfaction. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they woke up. John looked a bit dubious though.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" He whispered.

"Sure. What could happen?"

"..."

Monk sank into the now vacant sofa. "We should have brought popcorn. Like they have in American movies."

"You have a weird sense of humour, Bou-san." John sat next to him.

"Shh! She's waking up." There was a held breath (at least, there was on Monk's part, the others didn't seem to have any problem with breathing normally). But she didn't.

"Aww. Jou-chan's so cute." Monk smiled. Ayako and Masako walked in. And stopped. And stared.

"Er, what?" She gaped, while Masako covered her sleeve with her kimono.

"Shh!" Monk whispered accusingly.

Mai had slipped into dreaming without even realising it. She smiled in her sleep as something warm held her.

"Mum?" She dreamed, but there was no answer. She didn't mind much and snuggled into the figure.

"Shh!" She heard. She frowned. That sounded like... Monk? And then there was some sniggering. Her eyelids fluttered open, but she closed them again. She didn't want to get up, she was warm. Wait a moment...

Her eyes flew open. She glanced over her shoulder, and her entire face went red. There was a general laughter. Naru opened his eyes groggily. He blinked once or twice, than froze. Everyone laughed at the look on his face, which quickly darkened. They both sat up immediately, Naru quickly removing his arm from where it had snugly slipped over Mai's waist.

Mai could only squeak in embarrassment, and quickly scramble away. How dare her so called 'friends' take advantage of her! How could they do that? They knew she liked Naru, so why... Naru! What did he think of all this? From the expression on his face, he wanted to kill someone.

"You guys are so horrible!" She cried, her face turning from bright red to burgundy (even her legs and arms had taken a pink tint), and ran out of the room.

Everyone except Lin and Naru ran after her. Naru calmly continued working, his expression dark and dangerous.

"It wasn't that bad. Come on, you liked it."

"I don't _like _sleeping on the floor." Snapped Naru, his scowl deepening. Lin sighed, but noticed the fact that he complained about the floor, not Mai. _Ah, Noll, you're so obvious when someone knows how to read you_, he thought as he prepared for today's typing.

* * *

They found Mai curled up in a corner of the indoor swimming pool.

"Come on Mai..."

"Go away."

"Mai, it's not such a big thing."

"Yes it is! He probably hates me now."

"No he doesn't."

"Yes he does..."

"Mai, if we honestly thought he hated you, do we think we would have done it?"

"... Yes."

"Mai, don't say that. What sort of friends do you think we are?"

"Well, you're evidently bad ones!"

"No, we're not. We're just speeding up the inevitable."

"He hates me! I'm only a useless assistant who always argues with him and gets in his way and I always get hurt..."

"Mai. No, listen to me. He doesn't hate you. He really worries about you. Do you remember that case where he died?" Mai nodded. Yeah yeah, like she would ever forget. "And then you two had that argument by the lake, and you both stormed off. We didn't tell you this, but after that we assumed you went back to base so we went there, and when Naru found out that we left you alone, he was so livid. If eyes could kill..." He shuddered dramatically.

Mai sniffed loudly. "... really?"

"Yeah." Everyone else nodded. "Come on, let's get back to base."

"... no, I want to be alone for a bit." Monk looked a bit put out.

"We can't leave you alone, Naru would kill us."

"There's a camera right there. Anyway, I don't exactly trust you at the moment."

He sighed. "Okay, but come back to base soon. And move a bit so the camera can see you."

They left, leaving Mai alone with her thoughts.

Back in base, Naru raised an eyebrow at the lack of Mai.

"Where's she?"

"In the swimming pool. She wanted to be alone for a bit."

He nodded. Fair enough.

* * *

Mai flicked some water across the surface of the otherwise still pool.

_Naru worries about me? Probably because I'm such a klutz sometimes. _ She laughed nervously, trying to rid her stress. Stress which she didn't have yesterday...

She stayed like that for a bit, amusing herself with flicking little droplets. She wasn't sure how much time had passed. She stood up. A bone clicked as she stretched. Just how long had she been here? Time to get back, and the pool was starting to seem a bit spooky. She turned to leave.

Something pushed her. Into the pool. Her yell was cut off by water flooding her mouth. Oxygen escaped from her mouth in the shape of small bubbles.

Okay, she needed to stay calm. Just swim back up to surface.

Something grabbed her arms and held her there, keeping her underwater.

She flailed widely, but it didn't make any difference. Her mouth, throat and lungs were aching and she needed air now.

Whatever was holding her certainly didn't want her to get air. It certainly didn't want her to get out of the pool.

Well, while she was alive anyway.

She tried to tear off whatever was holding her, but she couldn't latch her fingers onto it.

_Please, someone help! _Someone had to come. Someone always did. Someone would save her. They had to. Someone...

The water in her mouth was like fire, a grim reminder of the lack of air, it was taunting her, mocking. The invisible hands finally let go.

But she couldn't tell which way up was.

She couldn't swim, either. Her arms and legs weren't working properly with the lack of oxygen, and she had no energy. Maybe she would die here. She couldn't see through the clear water, everything seemed blurry. Pain had spread through her body like a wildfire, and there was a horrible ringing in her ears. Why had no-one come? The camera... Oh, yeah. Spirits and machines didn't mix. She shouldn't have run away, Monk had been right... Too late for that now. She drifted in the water, her fingers trying to stubbornly reach the surface, wherever that was. One final plea for help. For life.

The last thing she felt before she slipped into unconsciousness was strong, protecting arms wrapping round her and holding her close.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN! Mai is not in a good spot right now.**

**Yeah, we know, we have a habit of trying to kill Naru and Mai. We'll pick on someone else after this. Promise!**

**How long will we keep this going? We don't know. Until we feel like it's finished and we don't want to continue it anymore. **

**Me and Ocy had an argument about whenever the pool is inside or outside. I wrote that it was inside, but she said it should be outside, that's why the window was there. So we decided that there's a wizard at work, moving the pool wherever.  
**


	53. 8 Prejudice part 7

Everyone else ran out after Mai. I went straight back to my desk and continued working as if nothing had happened.

"It wasn't that bad. Come on, you liked it." Couldn't he let it go?

"I don't _like _sleeping on the floor." I snapped, irritated. Why couldn't they have just let me continue sleeping on the sofa?

Only then did Lin leave it, but I could tell he found the whole thing hilarious. Just my luck. I think I prefer Lin before he met this lot.

Some minutes later everyone came back, albeit without Mai. I raised an eyebrow.

"Where's she?"

"In the swimming pool. She wanted to be alone for a bit." I nod, glancing at the monitor. She's there, doing something utterly pointless. Nothing new there then.

"Naru,"

"What?" She looks a bit taken back at my tone, like I'm _meant_ to be nice to her. If she wants me to be nice to her, she could try not blackmailing me. She _knows _I'm not interested in her.

"I saw him earlier. The ghost."

Ah, a lead at last.

"He's an elderly male, and... he doesn't harbour a grudge, but more of a hate."

A hate?

"What?" Monk looked confused.

"He doesn't have a grudge against someone, but he just... hates. Without reason."

"Who does he hate?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

I turn back to the file. He hates the victims... but why? What connected all these people together?

"When was this?"

"Earlier, when you were," she pauses for a moment, "...asleep."

I continue skim reading, occasionally glancing at the monitor with Mai on it. She's still doing the same thing that she was 20 minutes ago. I swear, anything can amuse her.

Everyone else (well, minus Lin) was talking, about whatever. Can't they keep it down a bit? To be honest, I'm not sure what's worse, when there're silent or noisy. Silence means that they're planning something, and noise is just annoying.

I can't see the connection. There must be something, his victims aren't random. It's not age, gender, occupation, nationality, personality.

I almost asked Mai for some tea, but remembered in time that she wasn't here. How much time does she want alone? It's not a vacation; we're here to do work. I check the monitor again. It's not broadcasting.

Shit.

I jump up and run out, hoping that something's just wrong with the camera, maybe some water got on it, or it's just old...

I remember that it's one on the newer cameras like a knife in my stomach. And the only way it could have gotten wet is if Mai purposely splashed it. She wouldn't do that.

Please, let nothing have happened to Mai.

I sprint down the stairs, nearly knocking someone over. I don't care. Almost there...

Please, please, let her be okay.

I dodge around benches, noticing a slight chill in the air.

I eventually come to the swimming pool.

Shit. Mai's drowning.

Without hesitation I dive in, quickly reaching her underwater. My arms wrap around her limp body.

Please, don't let me be too late.

Our heads break the surface, and I swim as quickly as I can to the edge, making sure to support her neck and head. She's unconscious. Or worse. Please, don't let it be the latter.

I manage to push her onto the solid ground and I climb up after her. I check for a pulse.

Crap, she's not breathing.


	54. 8 Prejudice part 8

Prejudice, Part 8

Waking Up

Mai felt awful. Her eyelids were heavy and her head and chest ached. Blearily she opened her eyes.

It was night time. Moonlight lazily streamed in from a nearby window. She was lying in a bed in a room she didn't recognise- hospital, presumably. She frowned as her brain sluggishly shifted through memories. The last thing she could remember was being pushed into the pool...

But, then how did she end up here?

Mai frowned, desperately struggling to remember anything past that, but she just had hazy feelings of not being able to breathe, her limbs blazing and her throat- her throat ached. A glass of water would be nice...

She sat up slowly, peering up at the room in the darkness. Hmm... how to get the nurses attention...

She reached out, her hand groping the air, till it closed around the button.

Not surprisingly, a nurse soon entered her room. After checking her, bringing the glass of water and insisting that she get back to sleep, the nurse left. Mai soon fell asleep again.

* * *

A peculiar bunch walked into the hospital. The small blonde young man, the modern, made up, fashionable woman, the monk with the slightly odd dress sense, the adolescent with a penchant for kimonos, and lastly the man and youth dressed for working in an office.

"Excuse me, but has Taniyama Mai woken up yet?" John asked. The woman at the desk typed something in her computer before nodding sagely.

"During the night. But she's fallen asleep again. Room 274." She said, peering at some other members of the group with mild disapproval.

"Thank you." They retraced their steps from yesterday to her room, and filled in. However, as the woman at the desk had said she was curled up, muttering slightly in her sleep.

"Well, at least she woke up..." Monk said, flopping into a seat in the corner and leaning his head against the wall.

"How long are we going to stay here for?" Masako asked.

"A while. Who knows?" Monk looked at Naru, but he had produced a file from somewhere and was perusing it. Lin had whipped out his laptop and was typing away and Masako had brought a book, leaving John, Monk and Ayako to chat amongst themselves.

An hour later not much had changed. Except Naru had finished reading his papers and he was getting fairly bored. Not to mention the other's chatter was getting on his nerves. Mai murmured something again and rolled over. Naru's fingers automatically drummed on the file's cover while he watched her sleep.

Lin watched him, his completely dead pan face hiding the amusement he felt. He coughed slightly before nudging Naru, waking him from his reverie.

"I'm going to get something to eat." He said. Naru nodded and the pair left the room. Just before Mai sleepily yawned.

"Mai-chan! You're awake!" Monk exclaimed, while Ayako tried to save Mai from being crushed by his hug, using the fool-proof method of hitting him on the head.

"We were so worried about you! If-" Ayako broke off, hoping she hadn't noticed that little 'if'.

"How long have you been here?" Mai croaked.

"About an hour. Naru-chan and Lin-san were here too, but they just left to get food." John answered. There was a pause.

"What happened?" Mai asked quietly. "I remember drowning but..."

The others looked at each other.

"You don't remember anything after...?"

"Um, I was pushed in, and then something held me underwater, but after that I don't remember anything..." She said in a surprisingly cheerful voice, considering she was talking about her near death.

"Well, erm, we went back to base, then Naru ran out saying something foreign-" Monk started.

"- the camera had stopped working-" Ayako butted in.

"-I think I was telling the story!"

"Well, you weren't telling it very well!" And the couple descended to squabbling.

"When we got there Naru had got you out, but you weren't breathing. So he resuscitated you." John said quietly.

"Er, resuscitated? Like CPR?"

"Yeah..." John said awkwardly.

"Like... mouth to mouth?" She turned a delicate shade of pink.

"Yes. You weren't breathing."

Mai glanced at Masako, who was still determinedly reading. The monk and miko were laughing quietly, as Mai processed this information, turning slowly pinker and pinker. Then suddenly she yawned.

"Still sleepy?" John asked kindly.

"Argh, don't talk to me about sleepy." Monk started, sitting back down in his chair. "We had to exorcise every room in the hotel. I'm exhausted."

"John did loads too. And I did the forest."

"That was loads of effort." He said sarcastically. "Anyway, you didn't even do your bell and tree spirits thing."

"Is the ghost gone now then?" Mai asked, looking at Masako, who seemed to be ignoring her.

"We think so. There hasn't been any other activity yet, but we're staying for a bit longer to make sure."

"Anyway, we're not going until you're completely better." Ayako said, patting her hand.

"When are Naru and Lin-san getting back? I'm hungry." Monk stretched. At this moment a nurse came in and shooed the visitors out for over exciting her patient.

"She needs to rest, poor thing." She replied to their protests.

* * *

The only person dissatisfied with the case ending so early was Naru, as he still hadn't worked out why he was doing it. The others seemed content with him not having to have a reason, just being mad, but somehow the case felt incomplete. He stared broodingly at his tea, completely unaware of the whispered conversation outside his door.

"He hasn't touched his last four cups of tea. I keep having to pour them down the sink." Mai complained, offended that apparently her tea wasn't good enough.

"Maybe he's ill..."

"He's been like this ever since we got back to office. Anyway, he doesn't look ill."

"Maybe he just needs a new case."

"Mai, tea." Came the order from the office. Mai glanced darkly at the wall, as if her evils could somehow penetrate it and affect the person within. She stood up and opened the door.

"Naru...?"

"Yes Mai?" He looked away from the wall.

"Are you alright?" She asked timidly.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You haven't touched your tea. Or the cup before that. Or the cup before that one. I keep on pouring them away! It's such a waste of tea. Don't you like it?" Naru looked at the cup on his desk in vague surprise.

"Mai, there's nothing wrong with your tea."

"Then why aren't you drinking it?" There was a silence. "What's wrong Naru?"

"Nothing." He said, reaching out for a folder. Mai felt that she wouldn't be able to get anything out of him, so quietly took the cup away and disposed of the lukewarm liquid. Sighing, she reached into the cupboard, and pulled out a new tea. After delivering it she slipped into Lin's office.

"Yes Mai-san?" She paused. How did he know it was her?

"I'm worried about Naru."

"You're always worried about Naru."

"No, seriously this time. I think he's ill. He hasn't drunk the last five cups of tea I gave him, and then when I point it out he looks like he forgot they're there." Lin was silent. "That's not normal Naru behaviour."

There was a mutual pause. "What does he really like?"

Lin had to almost physically stop himself from saying 'you'. Instead he said, "Books. But not fiction. He hates fiction."

Mai nodded and left, then called through Naru's door that she'd be back soon. Before he could reply she had gone out the door, Yasuhara following her.

"Hey, Mai, where're you going?"

"Bookstore."

"?" Yasuhara gave her a blank look.

"To buy Naru a book!"

"Because he doesn't have enough already..." he muttered.

"No, it's to cheer him up." They went to the nearest one: a second hand shop just around the corner. It was an old building, the walls had peeling wall paper, but that was barely visible due to the sheer number of volumes crammed into the small space. There were piles of books on tables, or stacked on top of bookshelves, or surrounding the counter.

"I didn't know this was here." Yasuhara whistled.

"I love it. It's so cute."

"What will we get him?"

"I dunno. Non-fiction's at the back..."

They carefully made their way to the back.

"Travelling journals? I don't think that's really his thing..." Yasuhara said, pulling out random books.

"How about this? Something to do with advanced chemistry."

"Yasu! We're trying to cheer him up!"

"Yeah. Teaching him something new will cheer him up."

"Okay, but we want something interesting."

"Advanced chemistry may be interesting to him." Mai made a face. "Okay, okay." He said, putting it back on the shelf.

"Complete history of the Edo period? Actually, he probably knows all this stuff already."

"That's good though, what about something historical? He's probably into history."

"Yeah, I can imagine that." He saw her face. "That wasn't sarcastic!"

"Can I help you?" A tiny middle aged woman was smiling at them kindly.

"We're looking for a historical book." Yasuhara started.

"The history section is here..." She said, pointing at a bookshelf slightly to the left. "Any particular period?" She said, her eyes flickering between the two, and the professional smile never leaving her face.

"Um, we don't know..."

"Who is the book for?"

"A friend. We wanted something interesting, to cheer him up."

"Detailed or easy?"

"Er, detailed. We also wanted something he's not likely to have read so much about..." The lady's smile was replaced by a look of concentration as she scanned the shelves.

"This is about the Aztecs... but maybe that would be a bit er, gory for cheering someone up. Um... French revolution, again, not so cheerful..." They continued to scan the shelves for some time.

"How about this? Romans?"

"Weren't they quite cruel?"

"True. Oh!" She smiled and pointed to a book on top of the shelf. "Er, would you mind? The one with the green cover." She asked Yasuhara. "Yes. The Greeks. I don't know much about them, but they were quite funny as far as I know."

The book was bought, and the pair trotted back to the office.

"Naru? We're back!" She called, but there was no reply.

"There's definitely something wrong with him." Yasuhara commented.

"I'll make more tea." She said, and made two cups, one for Yasuhara and one for Naru. Grabbing the book she opened the door to his office. The first thing she noticed was the finally empty tea cup on the corner of his desk.

"You drank it!" She smiled. Naru just looked at her. "Um, well, here you are..." She pulled the book out from behind her back (handily wrapped in a brown paper bag). "We got you a present. To cheer you up..." And she handed him the book, put the tea on his desk and practically ran out the room.

Naru pulled the book out of its bag. Curious, he opened it and began to read.

* * *

"Do you like it?"

Naru looked up from the page. Mai was peering at him with wide eyes.

"Yes." He returned his attention to the page, but was painfully aware of Mai watching him.

"How far have you got?"

"The Spartans." Even though he was looking at the page he noticed she hadn't moved an inch.

"Who were they?"

He sighed. He knew the chances of her shutting up when her interest was piqued were nil.

"They came from the Greek state area of Sparta, and were renowned for being the toughest state."

"Why?"

It was like talking with an eight year old. He tried to think of an example that would appeal to Mai.

"For example, they used to leave their babies on a mountainside to make sure they were tough..." He trailed off. "Why didn't I see that earlier?"

"Naru? What-?"

"That's why he only moved them."

"What are you talking about?"

"The ghost. All the people he picked were weak in some way: old, young, in John's case ill. So he moved them to see if they were tough... A hatred of weakness."

"What about me?"

"He decided you were too weak, so you had to die."

"So he drowned me." There was a silence. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For saving me."

He shrugged. "I wasn't going to just stand there and watch you die."

Another pause.

"Thanks anyway." Mai left him to stare at the wall, deep in thought.

* * *

**We're sorry the last was short, but we wrote that, and then just thought 'you know what? We should just update it like that!' So we did.**

**And sorry this took a long time. We had to battle homework, sickness, exams and aliens.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed and read. =]  
**


	55. 9 Impressions part 1

Impressions, Part 1

Birthday

Shibuya, Tokyo.

A teenage girl slipped through crowds of people. She wasn't in a hurry – she pulled out a phone (She didn't wear a watch for two reasons – 1. Her only watch had broken some time ago, and she couldn't be bothered to get it fixed and 2. After an incident when the hands had stopped, fooling her into believing that she was time, she didn't really trust them) and casually checked the time, murmuring under her breath, "10 minutes past 8. Another few won't hurt."

Her feet stumbled slightly on air, and the phone slipped somewhat gracefully out of her hand.

"Damn!"

Well, she really should have seen it coming. Her 'butter fingers' had caused several problems in the past.

After some somewhat ungraceful fumbling and crawling, she retrieved her phone, wiping it on her skirt to dislodge any dirt and hide any scratches. She pressed a few buttons, and then satisfied that it worked she put it back.

A few minutes later she sighted her destination, an office above a small cafe. She tiptoed up the steps, pausing slightly before cautiously opening the door.

Why was she pausing? She had a good reason for being late.

Well, _she_ thought it was a good reason. Whether her boss thought that it would be a good reason was a completely different matter.

She opened the door. The office was silent and, apparently, empty. Her ears strained for some sound, and she thought that she could just make out faint sounds of Lin's typing.

"Um, hello?"

Where was Naru, ready to scold her for being late and with a command for tea?

Suddenly, several people jumped out from behind various items of furniture.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAI!" They all cried simultaneously.

Her eyes took in everyone. Almost everyone was there – Bou-san, Ayako, Yasuhara, John and even Masako, but no sign of Naru, Lin or Madoka. Then again, Lin-san and Naru were probably working; after all it would take more than a mere birthday to stop them. Pity Madoka wasn't in Japan...

"Here you are!"

"Open mine first!"

"It's only small but..."

"I hope you like it."

"Ta-dah!"

Mai almost dropped the five brightly wrapped boxes stuffed into her arms.

"I'll be right back." She promised after saying thanks profusely. Humming, she practically danced into the kitchen to make tea. Her good mood was dampened slightly when she remembered how late she had been. And sure enough, as soon as she entered his office...

"You were fifteen minutes late."

"I dropped my phone! And anyway, it's my birthday, so you can't tell me off!"

Naru, didn't say it, but his eyes clearly said 'I can tell you off if I so wish.' There was a pause. Mai turned around and left.

"Mai, wait." Surprised, she turned around. Naru was rummaging in a drawer.

"Um, happy birthday." He said, holding out a box. Mai stared at it for a moment, working out whether or not she had actually woken up yet and this was a nice dream.

"Thanks." She took it uncertainly and left.

Outside, the others looked at the box in her hands.

"I didn't think he'd actually get you something." Yasuhara looked dumbstruck.

"That's so cute!" Ayako grinned.

"Open his first."

Mai gingerly opened the box to reveal...

...

...

...

"That jerk!" She cried, pulling out an alarm clock, with a little note attached reading 'Now you won't be late anymore'. Even if they had tried, the others wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face for more than a minute.

"Who thought Naru-chan had a sense of humour?" Monk chuckled.

"Humph."

Mai opened the rest of her presents, equally happy with each. Even Lin ventured out of his office to give her his and Madoka's joint present.

"That was the best birthday, thanks so much!"

In truth, she hadn't really ever gotten many presents on her birthday since her parents died.

"How about we go out for lunch?" Mai's face fell.

"Naru will never let me." She said unhappily.

"What about dinner then?"

"Erm, excuse me?" A man, woman and child had popped their heads round the door. They looked rather nervous, and surprised to see so many people in the office.

"Hello! Do you have an appointment?" Mai said, as they all bowed to each other.

"Erm, no, but we were wondering if you'd see us anyway...?"

"Of course. Please sit down," Mai said, turfing the others out of the sofa and chairs. "Tea?" The group nodded rather sheepishly.

"Hey, Naru-chan, you've got visitors." Monk knocked on his door. Naru soon emerged, as did Lin, just as Mai was pouring them tea.

"Are these your clients? Should we come back another time?" The man asked nervously.

"No no. They work with us: Takigawa Houshou, he's a monk, Brown John, he's a priest from Australia, Hara Masako, our medium, Yasuhara Osamu, our researcher and Matsuzaki Ayako, a priestess." They bowed at their names.

"I'm Umeki Taro, this is my wife, Maya, and my son, Tokaji." The man paused for a few moments. "We live in a house not far from here, and certain incidents have led us to believe that it's haunted."

"Such as?"

"Well... we feel as if something is watching us and hurting us. Once, for example, Maya told Tokaji off for something. Later, she fell down the stairs and had to spend the night in hospital."

"Probably just a coincidence."

"We thought that too, at first, but it keeps repeating, over and over again. And that's not the only thing. If Tokaji steals sweets his hand gets crushed in a door, if Maya and I have an argument at least one of us will have an accident. Last time that happened, my hand slipped when I was making dinner." He rolled his sleeve up to reveal a long, painful looking scar running down his arm. Mai unconsciously winced.

The boy, Tokaji, spoke up. "We used to have a puppy, but one day she went to the toilet on the carpet, and the next day something scared her so much she ran away."

Taro nodded. "We put up posters and offered a reward, but no-one ever saw her again."

"Is it not possible that she just decided to run away after being scolded?"

Taro shook his head. "We saw her, just before she ran away. I've never seen a dog so scared before in my life."

The three of them looking towards Naru pleadingly. After a few moments of contemplation he nodded slightly.

"We'll take the case."

The family sighed with relief. "You will? Thank you, so much."

"If you would leave contact details with my assistant. We'll need a room as base, rooms to stay in and it would be helpful if you packed a few bags in case you need to leave the house."

* * *

A few days later...

"Naru?"

"Yes?"

"Where's Masako?"

They were by the SPR van. "She's not coming."

"Why not?"

"Filming."

"Oh."

Mai felt a little bubble of happiness inside her tummy. Ha, she got Naru all to herself.

Except... Masako was the only person in their team who could see spirits.

Was it just her, or was there just a _teeny_ problem with that?

Nevertheless, she got into the van.

"In case you haven't realised, we did manage to solve several cases by ourselves." Naru said exasperatedly.

"But neither of you are mediums! How did you see the spirits?" But nobody answered her question. Luckily the trip was only fifty minutes long, so she didn't suffer for long.

The house was fairly large, but nowhere near as big as some of the others they had stayed in during cases. It looked fairly modern, which was also unusual.

"Ahh, a decent sized house." Monk sighed appreciatively. "At least this time I won't have to trudge for miles to get anywhere."

"Just because you're old doesn't mean you don't have to do exercise occasionally."

"You are you calling old, Granny?"

The others blocked out the latest argument, which finished rather abruptly as the Umeki family emerged from their house. They all bowed to each other.

"Welcome. We will give you a tour..." They were led around the house. Inside it was completely modern and in a Western style, and though sparsely furnished quite stylish. They were shown into the living room first, which was to be their base. Then the dining room, kitchen, study, utility room and a spare room which seemed to be used for holding everything that wasn't in the rest of house, including a broken kite and assorted deck chairs. Upstairs there were four bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. Due to the lack of rooms they were going to stay in a handy hotel which was just round the corner.

Mai was set the task of going round each room and recording the temperatures with Ayako while Monk, Lin and Yasuhara carried in the equipment. After they had set up a camera in every ground floor room and the corridor upstairs they had a tea break. Then they interviewed the family members, while Yasuhara and John went to question the neighbours.

"Hey guys! Look what we got!" Yasuhara and John had returned, laden with tubs of shaved ice.

"Thanks. I'm so hot!" Mai said, grabbing one immediately. Tokaji, as if he had a radar which showed any food in the vicinity, popped into the living room.

"We got one for you too..." John handed him a tub. He somehow managed to finish it faster than Monk.

"I hate people who don't have sensitive teeth." Ayako grumbled, gingerly biting into a spoonful.

"I can always eat yours."

"Go away, Bou-san."

After that little break it was only about four, but it was still somehow boiling. The air was thick, and nobody (except for Naru) felt like doing any more work.

"Why do Naru and Mai _still_ drink tea, even though it's thirty degrees?" A baffled Monk asked John, after Naru had sent Mai to make him another cup.

"Actually, drinking hot tea cools you down. My mum always does it in winter."

"?" Monk raised his eyebrows.

"Our winter and summer are switched."

"I know that. But why tea?"

"Apparently it makes you hotter, so everything feels cooler."

"Maybe I should try it."

A loud clatter, yelp and the sound of something smashing put an end to their conversation.

"Mai-chan, do you have to break a cup on every case?" Yasuhara asked exasperatedly, helping her up.

"I didn't break anything on our last case!" She said indignantly.

"No, but..."

Naru, Lin and the family had arrived to survey the damage.

"Baka." Was Naru's only comment, along with the unspoken comment of his raised eyebrow. Mai ignored him, concentrating on the cut on her arm.

"How come I always cut myself?" She said unhappily, cursing the writers of this story. No, seriously now.

"Because you're Mai." Yasuhara stated as though this was obvious. "At least it's small this time."

She started clearing away the mess and mopping up the tea. "I hope it wasn't your best china."

Maya smiled as she helped Mai clear it away. "No, it's perfectly all right. Accidents happen."

"Mai, get me another cup. And look after that cut – I don't want blood in my tea."

Mai stuck her tongue out at him, which he decided to ignore and go back to base.

Maya chuckled. "Your boss must be quite annoying to put up with sometimes, ne?"

"Yeah, sometimes he's such a pain. It's all Mai do this and Mai do that. And he never thanks me, seriously."

"Well, he's only a teenager."

"I know, but... he's one of the most infuriating guys I know."

"It'll probably pass."

"I doubt it. I bet he was born like that."

Maya chuckled again, then her face turned more serious. "Is your arm okay?"

"Yes, it's nothing to what I normally have to endure. Once, I was making tea, and the kettle exploded."

"Oh, gosh. Were you okay?"

"Well, I was covered in plasters and Clingfilm."

"I'll go find a plaster, if you wait a moment." Mai nodded, and Maya rushed off. About a minute later she came back with a plaster.

"I'm sorry, but normally we use our plasters on Tokaji, he's always grazing his knees, so it's a bit childish."

Mai inspected her Pikachu adorned arm. (Pokémon plasters!)

"How old is Tokaji?"

"7. I'll leave you to make tea for Shibuya-san."

* * *

**So, a new case. **

**Seriously, we're making out ghosts wierder and wierder. We're giving them powers that in the manga or anime they probably wouldn't have (you'll see). **

**We decided that it would be sensible to include Mai's birthday (actually, we wanted to have it on the last case, but it didn't really fit in)**

**This is something that happened while we were writing this:**

**O: The son... how old it he? (This chapter was about 3 quarters written, so we hadn't decided his age then)**

**C: (mishearing 'son' as 'sun') I think... about 8 billion years old?**

**O: ... Wrong son.**

**Thanks for all the reviews and reads and hits. ^^  
**


	56. 9 Impressions part 2

Impressions, Part 2

'Smug'

The majority of SPR were hiding from the onslaught. So was a small Tokaji, who probably didn't have a clue what was going on but he seemed to enjoy hiding behind the sofa with Mai.

"You _always_ say that!"

"No I don't, I didn't say it on the last case, did I?"

A small voice piqued up. "Actually, you did..." Mai got down flat on the floor to avoid any pain she might receive in the next 5 minutes (much to the amusement of Tokaji).

"Just because there's an old tree outside doesn't mean it's a bloody earth spirit!"

"I never said it was!"

"Oh, well, you implied it!"

"You shouldn't be jumping to conclusions! You're such a typical man."

"Oh, _I'm _typical, am I? Says you, who cares more about her own nails than-"

"Than what?"

"You care more about nails than anyone on this team!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh, really? It isn't? And tell me, what exactly do you do that is so useful?"

"I do exorcisms!"

"Oh, you do, do you? Every time you do an exorcism it fails!"

"That's not _my_ fault! And once it worked!"

"Pssh, once!"

"I remember saving your skin that time! I saved just about everyone's skin that time!"

A very annoyed teenager entered the scene.

"If you two have so much time to argue, why don't you put it to good use? You two have barely gotten any work done."

Both Ayako and Bou-san tried to out-glare Naru, which is an impossible feat.

"Stop making a scene and get back to work." The group did indeed get back to work, however it was under a rather strained silence and neither Monk nor Ayako was prepared to even so much as glance at the other. Mai immediately left to make a cup of tea, running into the Umekis in the dining room.

"Is everything alright?" Maya asked worriedly.

"Yes, um... Bou-san and Ayako were just... having a little friendly argument over... which would be the best way to detect the ghost...?" She said, her voice steadily rising. They didn't look as though they believed her, but let it pass.

They were all set the task of researching into the history of the house, reporting back everything they found. Unbeknownst to the others Lin's shiki roamed the house. By seven they were so bored they rebelled against Naru's workaholicism (I know I just made up a word) and gave up.

* * *

_She was in a room. Several people were in the room, too, although they were alive – or had been, once. No-one was saying anything, and the uncomfortable silence was thick and heavy. A man entered the room – or rather, hovered in the doorway. _

"_Have they done it?" Someone asked agitatedly._

"_Yes."_

_The man put his head in his hands. _

"_It's all my fault..." he muttered._

"_No it's not." Another stated simply. "It's not your fault she died."_

"_Yes it is!"_

_The dream faded as a sound started to penetrate her sleeping mind._

* * *

Mai got woken up by Ayako shrieking.

"Mai! Mai! Wake up!"

"What is it?" grumbled Mai, rubbing her eyes.

"My head!"

"What about it?"

"LOOK!"

Mai's jaw dropped.

"What did you do?" Mai was not very good with mornings, apparently.

"Me? I did nothing! I woke up, and my head hurt really badly, so I looked in the mirror, and I saw this!"

"I think we should go to the bathroom to get it cleaned up..."

Mai wet some toilet paper in the sink and started wiping Ayako's forehead, unconsciously wincing. There were rapid knocks on the door. Mai quickly answered the door to the rest of the SPR members who looked as though Ayako's shrieking also woke them up (or, most of them up – Lin and Naru were fully clothed).

"What is it?" Monk asked urgently. Ayako sniffed from the bathroom.

"Um, you'd probably better see for yourself..."

They all stuck their heads round the bathroom door. Yasuhara started snickering.

"Yasuhara! It's not funny!"

"It kinda is..." He tried to stop himself. Ayako looked as though she was going to kill Yasuhara.

"Um, anyone know where a first aid box is? We'll probably need plasters." Mai asked timidly.

"There's probably one in one of the cupboards."

Mai and Monk quickly located the plasters and started applying them on the cuts on her forehead. When they were done, they stood back and admired their handiwork.

"My forehead is ruined!" Ayako cried, also admiring their handiwork in a mirror.

"Nah, they probably won't scar."

"Even so, I can't just walk about like this!"

"Well, it would look even worse without plasters. Everyone would be staring or laughing at you in the street. I mean, most people don't have 'smug' carved onto their face. At least now it just looks like you've walked into something sharp. Er, repeatedly."

Mai yawned. "What time is it?"

"About 9am."

"It's too late to go back to sleep... let's have breakfast and head over early."

Everyone quickly agreed, and some minutes later, everyone was having breakfast. Ayako was wearing a bandana.

"This complicates matters." Naru stated.

"How?"

"Evidently, it's a work of ghost, unless either Mai or Ayako did it – the door to their hotel room was locked, and our rooms are too high up for it to be a burglar, and what sort of burglar would leave a memento of his work like that? Mai is too kind-hearted to do it, and I really doubt Ayako is that much of a masochist, and that good an actor. It obviously wasn't an accident, which either means that either this hotel is haunted as well, or it's the same ghost that's haunting the house. If it's the latter, then it means that the ghost isn't bound to anywhere, and wherever we are, we're in danger."

The rest of SPR were silent.

"That only leaves, why target Ayako?"

More silence.

"I was thinking, Umeki-san said that whenever he has an argument with his wife, at least one of them would get hurt. Maybe this is the same thing."

Everyone considered this for a moment, then looked at Monk.

"Bou-san, you're next." Said Mai in her creepiest voice.

"Mai! Don't do that voice!"

She grinned. Naru stood up.

"Naru, where are you going?"

"Unlike some, I have work to do."

"Workaholic." Mai muttered under her breath. Okay, half 9 in the morning might be late for _him_, but he could at least take a break every so often, couldn't he? Well, maybe not.

About half an hour later they were knocking on the front door of the house. Naru and Lin immediately went to check the computers for nightly activity, while the others made their way more leisurely to the base, greeting everyone along the way.

"There was no activity. Temperature drops in all rooms, but nothing out of the ordinary." Naru started drumming his fingers on the table, clearly disappointed in the ghost. "If only we had a temperature reading for your room..."

"Why? It would only tell us what we already know." Monk pointed out, but Naru was lost in thought. "The day I understand him is the day..."

"The day what?" Yasuhara looked up from the newspaper he had bought on the way.

"I dunno. But you know what I mean."

"Hmm."

"Oh, that's sad..." Mai had glanced at the article over his shoulder.

"What is?"

"A young woman was found strangled in her apartment. She's only 24."

"Mai, tea. And surely the rest of you have something better to do." Sometimes Naru despaired at the work ethic of his colleagues.

"Um, we don't."

"You do now. I think we should exorcise the rooms."

"Translation: Naru-chan orders poor Bou-san to exorcise all the rooms." Monk complained, but got to his feet.

"Take John with you, just in case." He fished out a file from a pile on the table, though what about no one had a clue, except him. And maybe Lin.

Mai came in with a steaming cup of tea. "Why's Monk looking so grumpy?"

"Naru-chan's making him do some work."

Mai placed the cup gently on the table, then waited. Eventually he looked up. "Do you want something?"

"Yes."

Yasuhara snorted in the background. "You," he muttered, but no one heard him except for Ayako.

"What?"

"A thank you."

Naru merely ignored her. She waited for another 5 minutes.

"Don't you have something better to do?"

"Nah. Actually, I might have something better to do if you say thank you..."

Yasuhara muttered to Ayako, "They're not even dating yet and already they're having relationship problems."

"...You can't have relationship problems if you're not dating."

Yasuhara looked as though he was going to say something, but he shut up to listen to Mai and Naru arguing.

"But Naru, I make your tea with extreme care! And I've been working at SPR for, like, 2 years and I haven't _ever_ gotten a thank you..."

Their argument was cut off by several loud bumps and an "ow!" They rushed out and found Bou-san at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing his back.

"Bou-san, what happened?"

"Nothing, I just fell down the stairs... ow, my back hurts..."

"Looks like you got your comeuppance."

"What do you mean, my comeuppance! If it wasn't for you starting that stupid argument..."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault-"

"Oh, that reminds me of my dream..."

They all stopped and stared at Mai.

"You mean, you had a dream, and you didn't say?" Naru said exasperatedly.

"Well, what with Ayako, I forgot..."

"Mai, whenever you have a dream, you're meant to tell us."

"But-"

"No buts. We have this conversation about every time... Any other dreams you _forgot_ to tell us about?"

"No..."

Naru sighed. "What happened?"

Mai told them what had happened in her dream. "See, it wasn't even that important!"

"Maybe not to you."

The rest of the day passed without event.

* * *

**Okay, you can shun us for not updating earlier. Sorry, but life sometimes just gets in the way.**

**Did everyone have a good Christmas and/or New Year? **

**We got Ghost Hunt volumes 6&7 for Christmas. :D**

**Maybe this is just me, but... sometimes, when you hear a song, does it remind you of Ghost Hunt in someway? I mean, whenever I hear the song 'She's My Man' by the Scissor Sisters it reminds of AyakoxBou-san. If you don't know the lyrics, look them up, and see what I mean. And it's not just that song, there's others too.  
**


	57. 9 Impressions part 3

Impressions, Part 3

Nightmares

Naru awoke with a barely audible gasp, sitting up and resting his head in his hands.

No.

It had been a dream.

Right?

He scrambled out of bed, part of him glad he was the only one in the room – Lin's bed was empty. Unwelcome memories tried to rise to the surface of his mind, make themselves heard, but he blocked them out. He stumbled into the bathroom, momentarily glancing at himself in the mirror before turning the cold water tap on and splashing his face. Part of him felt like it wanted to tear up and sob into the sink.

It had been a dream. A dream. It hadn't happened. It couldn't have. _He_, of all people, couldn't have.

He closed his eyes.

_A thin shaft of moonlight fell through the crack in the curtains, illuminating her face and hair as she slept. None of them had been woken up by him._

Bad idea. He opened them again, trying to force images back into the nether regions of his mind.

There was a crash as his hand flew out of its own accord and smashed into a small mirror, knocking it to the ground, shards falling everywhere.

Ah, shit.

He clutched at his hand, accidently forcing a few fragments of glass deeper into him, not that he noticed. Blood dripped down his fingers, some of it mixing with the water dripping off his face and hair.

It hurt, but at that moment he didn't really care. He had more important things on his mind, like separating reality from dreams. No matter how many times he told himself it had been a dream, he couldn't stop the fear that it hadn't.

* * *

Lin opened the door. Noll's bed was empty. Hardly surprising.

"Noll?" He called. "The others are up." He'd glanced at the restaurant on his way there – Yasuhara and John had been there. No reply. He went to the bathroom, noticing the smashed mirror and the small bloodstains. What had Noll done this time?

He went downstairs again, joining John and Yasuhara.

"Isn't Naru eating?" John asked.

"He probably had breakfast at some god forsaken time in the morning, then rushed off to work complaining about how lazy the rest of us are." Yasuhara joked.

"I thought he was down here." Lin watched their faces closely.

"Nope. Haven't seen him."

"Same with me." John volunteered.

Lin sighed. He hoped Naru hadn't done anything too drastic.

"Has something happened?" John asked nervously.

"No." It was probably nothing anyway. Naru could have accidently knocked over the mirror and cut his hand on a piece of glass.

"We could help?" John stated, though by the way he said it it was more of a question.

"No, it's fine."

They then moved the conversation onward, but Lin didn't join in. It wasn't long before Mai joined them.

"Good morning… where's Naru?"

"We don't know. Where's Ayako?"

"She's drying her hair or something… She'll be down in a minute."

* * *

An hour had passed, and although everyone else had joined them at the table, Naru was still somewhere else. Lin had been the last person to see him, before he'd gone out.

"Maybe we should look for him?" John asked nervously. It was unlike Naru to not join them at breakfast, even though he almost never joined in the conversation. And if he didn't join them, usually Lin knew where he was.

"Maybe he's already at the house?"

"I don't think so. He was still asleep when I left."

"He could have skipped breakfast." Yasuhara suggested.

"I know!" Mai slammed her fist into her hand. "He woke up, realised something, and rushed to the house to check it, and now he'll be back and tell us we're all idiots." Mai said, with a happy tone. The others stared at her for a few seconds. Then Bou-san shrugged.

"It's possible."

They waited expectantly for Naru to come back and tell them they were all idiots.

He didn't come.

"I'll go check our room again. See if he's there." Lin said, standing up. The others nodded and waited for Lin to return, chatting comfortably amongst themselves. Lin came back, without Naru. He shook his head.

"He's not there. And I checked his bed – he must be up, his pyjamas are there."

Mai got the impression Lin wasn't telling them everything. Evidently, so did Masako.

"Anything else?" She said, though it was almost a demand.

Lin paused. "He must have cut himself. There's blood on his pyjama sleeve."

Mai unconsciously winced. No-one pressed him for details.

"He's probably at the house already. We should go." Everyone else murmured agreements and stood up.

No-one talked during the walk there.

When they got there, the Umekis were already up. Naru wasn't there though.

"Well, were on earth could he be?" An extremely annoyed Bou-san asked, flopping down onto a sofa. There was the sound of the front door opening. They ran out into the hall, expectant.

There stood Naru, making his way to base. He paused, and glared at all of them who were staring at him in a similar way as one might stare at someone who has magically gained an extra head. They all noticed the bandage on his hand.

"What? Can't you think of anything better to do than stand in the corridor?" He snarled. He was not in a good mood. Part of his brain briefly acknowledged that Mai was there. Lin appeared, and glared at Naru for a good few seconds.

"Where have you been?" He asked quietly. He would have asked about the broken mirror, but he decided to leave it until later. Preferably when they weren't in a small and rather cramped corridor with the rest of SPR, excluding Masako.

"Nowhere." Naru defended. He hadn't been anywhere in particular.

Lin glared at him for a moment. He'd interrogate him later.

"Naru, what did you do to your hand?" Mai asked.

"Cut it." He said glumly. It'd taken that damn woman with the first aid box too long to prise out all the pieces of glass from his hand. The fact that she'd been looking at his face, rather than his hand, for half the time made it take even longer than necessary. It'd also been a nightmare getting changed with one hand which refused to stop bleeding – he couldn't exactly wander around the hotel in his pyjamas.

He walked into base, sat down in his chair and dumped his jacket on the back of the chair. He didn't ask Mai for tea.

"Is it okay?" Mai asked, still referring to his hand.

"Yes." He said forcibly, wanting this conversation to be over. Him being in the same room as Mai felt… _wrong_.

Mai looked at him, hurt, but left the room. Bou-san frowned.

"Naru-chan, are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine." He wasn't. He was hating every minute and every second that he was spending awake. Although, if he was honest, he was terrified of what his dreams might consist of tonight. He got on with reading his file. There wasn't anything that stood out, and he couldn't pin an identity on the ghost, which annoyed him to no end, but at least it kept his mind occupied. Off… other things.

Monk gave him an odd look, but left it. It was obvious Naru was in a bad mood, although no-one except for him knew why.

There had been no activity while the team were away. This ghost was evidently a quiet one. Any activity was minor and it rarely occurred. Why had he taken this case again? He couldn't remember. The words on the page jumbled into a mesh of black and white that he could make no sense of. Angry and tense, he gripped the file tighter and tighter.

If only Gene was here. He bitterly wished that he was there to explain to, to be comforted by. Suddenly something inside him broke, and he was filled with a desperate longing for his brother. The tiniest threats of tears formed in his eyes. He blinked hard to drive them away.

He stood up, and swiftly left the room. Numbly he made his way to the kitchen, where he shakily put the kettle on.

"Are you okay?" Mai's voice was layered with concern. Naru found himself subconsciously moving away from her. "If you wanted tea you could have asked." Her little hurt face looked up at him. He couldn't help but notice that somehow whenever he asked her she wasn't so keen.

"I'm fine." He managed. She frowned. He didn't look fine, that was for sure. He was pale, and had deep purple rims round his eyes, like he hadn't been sleeping properly. He grabbed his tea cup and made to leave. Until suddenly he was on the ground.

Under normal circumstances, Mai would have laughed if she'd seen Naru trip over something. But with him acting oddly… it just increased her worry. Naru stood up and dusted himself off, then looked round for the broken cup of tea. Mai crossed over to him and put her hand on his forehead, standing on tiptoe to reach it. Naru's eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately backed away from her, her hand falling back to her side.

"God, you're really hot…" She couldn't stop the words popping out of her mouth.

"I'm fine." He said harshly, turning away from her, willing her to leave. He didn't want to be in the same room as her, he didn't want to be close to her.

He bent down to pick up the fallen pieces of china. When he stood up again, Mai was still there.

"Do you want something?"

"Naru, do you feel okay?"

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm fine? Go and make yourself useful instead of standing here doing nothing." She looked like she was going to say something, but shook her head and left. Naru couldn't contain the sigh of relief as soon as she left. He placed the remains of the cup on the side and cleaned up the spilt tea. He automatically set about making another cup. Everything felt slightly hazy, almost like he was in a dream.

* * *

"Mai-san?" Lin blinked as the girl slipped into base quietly. Everyone else had gone, where, Lin didn't know or care.

"I'm worried about Naru. He was acting oddly this morning, and he didn't ask me for tea, he made it himself…" Pause. "Is there something wrong with my tea?"

"Your tea's fine."

She looked relieved for a moment, before continuing. "Then he tripped over and I felt his forehead. It was really hot. Do you think he's ill?"

"I don't know. If he is, he'll never admit it. If he isn't, then…" Lin stopped briefly, thinking. "I don't know. It could be bad."

Mai sighed unhappily.

* * *

Naru sipped his tea peacefully in the kitchen. He couldn't be bothered to go back to base. He could take a break from reading his file. And he would probably finish his cup soon. He saw the broken pieces of the cup he had broken earlier in the corner of his eye with slight twinges of guilt.

He'd been careful to pick a type of tea that Mai hadn't yet brewed. It tasted good and refreshing, though he couldn't tell what the flavour was. He looked at the box. Some kind of berry, probably, judging from the picture. He finished the rest of tea in one big gulp and rested the cup tactfully near the sink. He wasn't so keen to go back to work, something that very rarely happened. He felt he couldn't properly focus on anything.

He was in the corridor when he collapsed.

* * *

**Everyone, I'm really sorry this hasn't been updated for about 3 months. We started writing it, but then it kind of died, and then we were writing Closed Doors and... Sorry.**

**A massive thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys are such guilt trippers.**

**Please enjoy, and please review~ ^^**


	58. 9 Impressions part 4

Impressions, Part 4

Bad Dreams

When Naru awoke, he was in a room that some part of his brain recognised as the Umekis' spare room.

"You're awake."

Naru turned his head to see Lin sitting there, watching him intently.

"Have some water." Lin continued, handing him a glass. Naru gulped some down, eyeing Lin suspiciously.

"What happened?" He asked.

"We found you unconscious in the hallway." He paused for a moment, letting it sink in, before continuing. "You'd overworked yourself and got a virus. Not to mention you hadn't slept much."

"How long have I been out?" Naru asked moodily.

"Only a few hours."

Naru spluttered on the water. "Only?"

Naru stared at Lin, who shrugged nonchalantly. Then he returned to his normal seriousness.

"What's wrong?" Lin suddenly asked.

"Nothing."

"You weren't acting normal earlier. I know you're rarely ever ill, but you've never acted like that before. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Naru realised that he was boiling – he was fully clothed except for his shoes. He made to get out of bed, but Lin stopped him. "Lin, let me go. I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're going to overwork yourself again and then this will be repeated. You're going to stay in bed."

"I'm perfectly fine!"

"Stay and get the rest you need. It won't do to have you collapsing again." Lin got up and went out, closing the door behind him. It took Naru a moment to realise he locked it. Sighing, he laid down on the bed. Lin seemed determined to make him stay and rest. He took his socks off, un-tucked his shirt and undid the top couple of buttons. The heat was stifling in the room, so he got up again and investigated the window. It opened easily and he breathed the fresh air greedily.

Behind him he could hear the door open again. He turned, expecting Lin again, but was surprised and slightly horrified to see Mai there instead. Damn, why did she have to come?

"What is it?" He snapped.

She looked taken aback by his tone, but didn't comment on it.

"Are you okay now?" She asked.

"I'm fine. What do you want?"

"Are you hungry?" She inquired. He shook his head, still glaring at her. "Okay, um, I got you your file for you…" He snatched the file from her hands and started flicking through to find the page he was on. Why was she being so nice to him? Admittedly, she was a nice person. But that didn't mean he had to be comfortable with it.

She bit her lip. "Why are you avoiding me?" She asked, before covering her mouth looking guilty. He looked up sharply.

"Avoiding you?"

"You are! You won't let me make tea, you won't let me help, you tell me constantly to go away… You're avoiding me."

"I'm not." He lied.

"I know you're ill but-"

"I'm not ill!"

"Then what's wrong with you?"

He didn't answer that, his gaze shifting back to the file. "Go away, Mai." It was quiet, but the sentence rang out like a bell.

"Naru, just tell me! What is it? Have I done something wrong?"

Silence.

"If I have, I'm sorry, okay?"

"It's not you, Mai."

"Then what is it? I don't see you avoiding the others and looking as though it kills you to be in the same room as them!"

He carried on looking stubbornly at the file, whether he was actually reading it or not Mai couldn't tell.

"I'm going to lock you in and throw away the goddamn key!" She slammed the door hard. But when it got down to it, she didn't have the heart to lock him in. She twisted the key around in the lock a bit though, just to fool him into believing he was.

It was only after Mai had gone when Naru realised how exhausted he was. It wasn't long before he slipped into, thankfully, a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Mai handed Lin the key back. He'd only locked him in to prove a point and make sure he didn't escape.

"I didn't lock it." She said, before slumping on the sofa. "He didn't want anything, either."

"He's so stubborn." Monk agreed, shifting so that instead of Mai's legs on top of his it was the other way round. She reacted by squirming and shrieking,

"Get off me! You're too heavy!"

She escaped from under him and sat on the arm rest of the sofa, as far away from him as possible while still sitting on the sofa.

* * *

"Noll?" Naru turned over. "Noll, I know you're awake." His own calm voice said. He sighed.

"Go away Gene. Some of us are trying to sleep."

"No need to be so snappy."

Naru blearily opened one eye. His twin was looking both concerned and annoyed.

"Gene… I'm tired…"

"That's hardly an excuse. Something's bothering you."

"…And?"

"Noll, tell me. You'll feel better if you do, trust me."

Noll stared at his brother for a few moments, now wide awake. He could tell him… Gene would understand, wouldn't he?

"I had a dream." He said, still slightly unsure and aware of how cliché his words sounded. Gene didn't say anything, waited for him to continue. "I awoke in the middle of the night and got out of bed. I went out into the corridor and walked to the girl's room." He paused, his brain bringing up unpleasant memories. Gene looked sympathetic, almost as if he knew what Noll would say next.

"I managed to get inside their room – I'm not completely sure how – and…"

"And?"

"I went to Mai's bed. She was sleeping there, so peacefully… I watched her for a minute or two… then I wrapped my hands around her throat. That was when she woke up, but it was too late then. I was already squeezing. She fumbled at my hands, but it did no good. Eventually she blacked out and then she… died. I went back to bed as if nothing had ever happened."

If Gene could, he would have hugged his brother, but seeing as it's impossible for someone who is in a mirror to hug someone who isn't, he was limited to looking sympathetic and comforting his brother other ways.

"And the worst bit is… is when I woke up I believed it. I thought I had killed her Gene. I thought _I_ could have actually done it."

He hid his face in his hands. For the first time in a while he felt like breaking down and sobbing, tiny little pinpricks of tears were forming in his eyes.

"It's okay Noll. Just let it out." Gene's sympathetic voice ordered gently.

Naru cried for the first time in years. Tears for every angry moment, every time he'd felt nervous, confused, defeated. Tears for his own failings, tears for Gene's death and his missing body, tears for Mai's dream death. Tears of vexation at being ill, at annoying the others, at constantly leading them into danger he couldn't always protect them from. Tears because Mai hated him, and he couldn't, wouldn't change. Tears that had been pent up for up to two years mixed with newer ones. Tears gathered, multiplied and subtracted along his eyes and cheeks, coating them in the finest gossamer fabric.

After he was finished he lay on the bed, his mind spinning. "Gene?" He croaked out. He had a massive headache, and his throat now ached.

"I'm right here." Noll nodded, drawing comfort from the fact he hadn't gone. "But, Noll… I know you're not going to like this but…" He stopped. Naru sat up; staring at his brother, wondering what on Earth was coming next.

"You have to be nicer to her. You can't avoid her because you're having problems. Imagine if you were in her place."

"I know Gene, but I am what I am."

"But that doesn't mean you can't change your behaviour slightly." He admonished lightly. Suddenly his eyes darted to the door, and his expression matched Naru's. There was a knock, and Mai entered.

"I know you said to go away, but I felt bad for shouting at you, so…" Mai apologetically held out the teapot with a cup balanced precariously on top. Only Mai, he thought.

"Thank you." He said. She flashed him a huge grin, before putting the tea pot down and quickly leaving.

Only Mai…

* * *

"He must be really ill." Mai said miserably. "He thanked me for the tea. He never does that when he's well."

Bou-san rubbed the top of her head. "Don't worry Jou-chan." He said childishly.

"Hey, let go of my head!"

"Not a chance!" Monk grinned and Mai squirmed out of his grip.

"My hair…" She whimpered. "My hair's all messed up now!"

Bou-san shrugged. "Not my fault."

"What do you mean, not your fault? You're the one who made it messy!"

"I thought you were always complaining that he didn't say thank you, and now he has, and you're complaining." Ayako pointed out.

"Yeah, seriously, stop being so ungrateful." Bou-san mock scolded.

"I'm not being ungrateful; I'm simply worrying for Naru's mental health!"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever you say."

* * *

**The amount we've written for Aftermath always shocks me. This is probably why sometimes I find I have more homework than I've actually done... :(**

**Anyway, tah-dah! New chapter! Sorry this took quite a long time to write. We've actually got writers block on his one. Hence starting other stories. But we will continue it promise! though maybe slowly... angel face :)**

**NOTE: You could say that this chapter is a bit OOC, but _everyone_ has to cry at some point. And once we were watching this drama on TV and there was a guy who never cried, even when his daughter went missing and died, and he was really creepy. He was always glaring at everyone as well. And then the wife of that guy said to someone else : "If you've got to cry, just let it out." **

**Err... please review?**


	59. 9 Impressions part 5

Impressions, Part 5

Smiles and Knives

"I have a theory." Yasuhara announced suddenly. He paused, letting it sink in.

"Well?"

"I'm getting to it! I have a theory, right, that Naru is, in fact, an agelast."

"A-a what?"

"An agelast. Someone who doesn't laugh. I've never even seen him smile."

"That's true. I mean, sometime he smirks, but that's the limit." Bou-san agreed.

"But-" Mai protested.

"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, how old is he? Seventeen? And look at him. He's so serious." Ayako interrupted.

"But, I've seen him smile." Mai piped up. There was a shocked silence. Even Lin stopped typing and turned to look at her, shocked.

"What?" Yasuhara eventually said.

"I saw him smile once."

"Like, you just happened to see it or did he actually smile at you."

"Er, well, I suppose he smiled at me."

"Mai, you are a miracle worker. How did you do it?"

"Well… it was after that school case where we met Yasuhara. I was going to apologise to him for, you know, calling him a murderer, and then _he _apologised-"

"He apologised as well? Hell must have frozen over."

"-and then I yelled at him-"

"Hang on, he _apologises_ to you – which is just about as rare as a- I don't know, something very rare – and you _yell_ at him?"

"Er, yeah. I was going to apologise and then he had to go and ruin it by apologising himself! So I yelled at him and he just smiled and walked away."

No-one said anything. Then, there was the sound of footsteps as someone came down the stairs.

"Lin, I'm going to the library." Naru called before the sound of the door opening and then shutting.

"… He recovers fast."

"Why is he going to the library?"

"Who knows?"

"He does, hopefully." Yasuhara said innocently.

"Very funny Yasu." Mai's voice was lanced with sarcasm. He shrugged.

Everyone sat for a few moments, twiddling their thumbs (literally, for most of them).

"I'm bored." Ayako whined. "Nothing happens at this house. At least if the ghost is violent then it's not boring."

"You're not the one who always gets attacked!" Mai cried.

"You haven't got attacked at all during this case, though." Yasuhara pointed out as he pushed up his glasses.

"You have." Monk said to Ayako. "Smug."

She slapped his arm. "Shut up!" He grinned.

"You're going to have to wear a head scarf for _ages_."

She sighed in defeat. "I _know_. I'm blaming Bou-san."

"Hey, how is it _my_ fault? You're the one who started the argument in the first place!"

"The argument was so your fault!"

"Now, now. You don't want to get attacked again, do you?" Yasuhara stood in between them.

"No, but…"

"Exactly."

"I wonder if they have any board games…" John wondered absently, trying to think of things that stop any oncoming arguments.

"Well, they have a son, but it's a bit rude to ask them for board games, isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I suppose."

Silence followed.

"Let's go out." Monk announced. "Somewhere. It's too stuffy here." He was fanning himself with his hand.

"Yes please!" Mai jumped up. "Oh… but what about Naru?"

"He's out. And Lin won't mind. My treat."

"For all of us?"

"Well… except Ayako…"

Slap.

"Okay, Ayako's included."

"Where should we go?"

"I dunno. Let's go get ice cream or something."

"Yay! Come on, let's go!" Mai skipped out of the room.

* * *

Mai hummed happily. They had been to a small café nearby which had sold, as they found out, really good ice cream. They'd been gone an hour, so she was a bit scared that when they got back Naru would be there and tell them off, but he wasn't back yet. So that was good.

"I'm going to go make tea. Anyone want some?"

"You just had ice cream! How can you want to drink tea?"

"I'm thirsty. I'm presuming that I'm only making some for myself then?"

Monk stared at her. "You're insane."

Mai ignored that and walked to the kitchen. She'd just set the water to boil when Naru walked in.

"You're back." She smiled at him. "Do you want some tea?"

He frowned slightly, as if he was processing what she was saying 5 times slower than normal.

"Tea? Um, no, it's okay."

She frowned. This wasn't like him. There was some weird feeling in her gut, but she ignored it.

"Oh. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Looking for…?"

"At the library."

"Library? Ah. Er. Yes, I did. Thank you."

Okay, this is weird, Mai thought. Maybe he shouldn't be up and about yet…

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why?" Naru was frowning now.

"Nothing… do you feel hot?"

"It's summer. How am I not meant to feel hot?" He asked.

"No, I mean… like weird hot. Like ill hot."

"No…" He leant against the counter next to her. "Why would I even feel weird hot or ill hot?"

"Just checking…" She said nervously. They stayed silent for a few moments, and Mai could see he was studying her face.

"You're quite pretty." He eventually said matter-of-factly. Mai blushed, partly from confusion. He blinked a few times at her blush.

Mai could feel something was off. He was acting, well, completely unlike him. Maybe he had a fever…? She might think drunk, but she couldn't smell the alcohol and Naru wouldn't drink.

"Oh! I get it!" He froze for a millisecond. "I did say that out loud? Oh, I did." He nodded. "That's clever. Oh dear… I'm the one doing good…"

Mai gave in completely to her instinct, letting it ride over.

She grabbed a knife.

And stabbed him in the stomach.

* * *

**Sorry it's short, but I like the ending. It's not often people get stabbed.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed :)**

**Anyway, I'm off to bed. It's midnight where I am.**

**Please review!**


	60. 9 Impressions part 6

Impressions, Part 6

Doppelganger

When one stabs someone else in the stomach, one would expect, well, surprise first, and then pain. They might get angry, but pretty soon they would fall over, bleeding, and die.

When Mai stabbed Naru in the stomach, there was none of that.

Well, there was some surprise.

Both of them looked at the knife, which Mai was still holding out, but did not appear to be affecting him at all.

"Well, that was not very nice." He said blandly.

Mai just stared. _She'd just stabbed him in the stomach… and he was acting like it was nothing?_

"Well, I suppose the fault's mine. I never was a very good actor."

Mai was still staring.

"Are you alright? It's a bit creepy you staring at my stomach. Could you please stop?"

"Er… sorry?" She said, her arm starting to shake as she withdrew it and carefully put the knife down. There wasn't a single drop of blood.

"You look a bit pale. Do you want something to drink?"

"N-no…"

"You're not going to faint, are you? Please don't. It would be really awkward."

"O-okay…"

"Sorry for giving you such a shock. I didn't mean to. I wasn't expecting you to stab me, you know. Good thing I can't feel a thing. I mean, being dead does have some advantages." He smiled sadly. "Still, it's tiring being stuck here."

"You- you know you're dead?"

"Yes. I've known for quite a while. I mean, look at all this technology nowadays! We didn't have any of that when I was alive."

"How did you die?" She tried. She'd worked out that this was the ghost who was haunting the house. She was secretly relieved. It was better than killing the real Naru.

"Oh, illness. Nothing special. I think nowadays it can be cured, but of course we didn't have that in my time."

"Oh." She noticed her arm was still shaking. "Why- why Naru?"

"What? Oh, you mean why do I look like him? I don't actually. Pity. I just took his form so you could see me. I quite like being good looking."

"Oh." Her legs were shaking too. What was with her?

"Are you sure you don't want something? You look like you might need to sit down. Should I make some tea?"

"Um, yes please?"

"Right." He started to make a cup of tea. Mai watched him, noticing that his tea making routine wasn't quite perfect. Not many people poured the water down the spout of the kettle instead of opening the top. "What tea do you want? I think mint would be good. Maya always makes that for Tokaji when he doesn't feel well. I am doing this correctly, yes? I haven't actually made tea with all this modern stuff. I've just watched."

She nodded feebly. He soon handed her a cup of tea, which she gulped down gratefully.

"You should be careful with that knife, you know. It's not very nice, killing people."

From the way he said it made Mai think that he'd killed someone.

"Have you killed someone?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. It was an accident." He stared gloomily down at his own cup of tea.

"What happened?"

"I'd rather not go into it. But simply put, someone else got the blame."

"Who?"

"It was the woman I loved. They killed her for my crime." He said sadly. "I tried to tell them it was me, but… they thought I was simply protecting her."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. You be careful though. You don't want to kill the one you love."

"I thou-" She stopped. "Why are you staying on though?"

"I don't want to. I tried to do something when I was still alive and I'm doing even now when I'm dead."

"Can't you move on?"

"I don't know how to." He finished his cup of tea and placed in on the side. "You're so much more intelligent than you look. Pretty _and_ clever. I can see why he likes you. Anyway, I should go now. The others are coming to the kitchen and it would be awkward if I was still here. It was nice speaking to you." And he disappeared, leaving Mai standing with a trembling cup of tea in her hands.

Then Naru walked in. The real one.

"Mai, tea." He noticed her wide eyes, her trembling arm and the fact that she looked a lot paler than normal. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She put her own cup down and started making him a cup of tea. He watched her curiously.

"Someone else was here before me. Who was it?"

"Um, no-one." She lied.

He touched the abandoned cup. "Someone was here. It's still warm."

"Um, that must be because of the heat."

"It was someone who isn't linked with this case. Or I don't know them."

"Maybe it was Maya…?"

"Maya would wash her own tea cup."

"Naru, if anyone had been here you would have walked past them in the hallway when they came out of the kitchen." Mai crowed triumphantly. Surely Naru, clever though he was, could not defeat this logic.

"They could have gone out the back door. Unless they're hiding here, which I doubt. Who was it?"

"It was no-one." She knew that he knew that she was lying.

"You're protecting them." He murmured. It wouldn't be one of them family, and it wouldn't be one of SPR, and he couldn't think of anyone else it might be. She handed him a cup of tea, and he drank, still watching her over the rim of the cup.

"Mai, you can tell me."

Mai squirmed. She could imagine that conversation in her head. _Um, basically a ghost came and he looked like you so I stabbed him._

_You stabbed him?_

_Er, yeah?_

Glares all round. No thanks. Admitting that she almost killed him may _not_ be the best way to gain favour with her boss and crush.

"Okay. Mai, as your boss, I order you to tell me."

"Hey, that's not fair."

"Life's not fair."

Mai scowled as she crossed her arms. Defensive, Naru thought absentmindedly. He opened the door, but even if there had been footprints he wouldn't have been able to see them. He shut the door thoughtfully. Well, there were always other ways…

Thoughtfully he picked up the teacup. And froze.

"Naru?" Mai asked, worried. He didn't respond.

He was in the kitchen. And it felt like him, and looked like him, like when he had read Gene's clothes. Mai was in front of him, it looked like she'd been speaking. Suddenly she grabbed a knife and plunged it into his stomach.

He waited for the pain to come, but there was nothing. The knife felt cold, but he couldn't feel anything like a cut, let alone a stab wound. And there was Mai, gaping at his stomach. To be honest, so was he. There was nothing, no mark, no blood, nothing. Just a knife sticking out of him, with Mai's pale, trembling hand wrapped around the handle.

"Naru!" Mai's shrill voice cut through the vision. His arm was stinging, presumably from where she had hit him. She was glaring at him, but there was a hint of guiltiness and worry in her eyes.

"…What?"

"Don't do that again! You really had me scared for a moment!" She shouted at him. Shocked he rubbed his eye with his hand. The vision had been green… but that didn't make sense.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"What?"

She made a strange, strangled noise. "You're impossible! You freeze for ten whole minutes, and then when you eventually snap out of it, and only because I hit you, you're acting all weird!"

"Ten minutes?"

"That is what I said, yes! Will you ever listen to me?"

"Sorry…" He said absentmindedly. Why did she stab him? It can't have killed him… it would have felt different. For a start it would have hurt. A lot. So she must have stabbed a ghost… but why? And why did it look like him? He realised Mai was watching him with the biggest eyes he had ever seen.

"Are you alright?" She asked, more subdued now.

"I'm fine." He said briskly, more like his usual manner. He noticed Mai exhale quietly. Slowly he put down the teacup and left quickly. Mai started after him, but then changed her mind. Cautiously she picked up the teacup, looking for anything which would have affected Naru. But it was just a teacup. She shrugged and tidied up. She jumped when she turned around and saw Naru watching her from the doorway.

"Naru! Blimey, you scared me."

"Sorry, it's me." A sad voice that was not Naru's came from him.

"Oh, it's you." She smiled. He sighed.

"Well, I had to ask you. I want to move on. I just don't know how to. Please, you have to help me. You're the first people who know anything about ghosts."

"Well, that is what we're paid to do."

"So, when can you…?"

Mai sighed. "Well Naru will want to get to the bottom of it first."

"Should I speak to him? Is he likely to stab me?"

Mai smiled. "No, he wouldn't stab you. Well, he might try to kill you through glaring instead… I'll speak to him."

She did not miss the wry smile that appeared on Naru's face. "What?" She demanded, but he just shook his head and chuckled lightly.

"So, you'll talk to him? For me?" He confirmed, his face lighting up.

"Yeah." She smiled at him.

"You should probably go now. You've been standing in this kitchen for about 20 minutes. They might worry soon."

"Oh. Okay. Bye."

"Goodbye. Thank you." And once again he faded into nothing. She smiled thoughtfully, then frowned as a thought bubble came up. How would she broach the subject? She should probably leave out the stabbing. Just pretend that he'd come as Naru she knew it hadn't been him so she'd talked to him. That would do. Should she talk to him alone…? Nah, she couldn't be bothered.

"You took your time." Monk said worriedly when she entered. "We were starting to worry, you know."

"Sorry. The ghost came."

Boom. The bombshell had been dropped. Silence as the blast spread out in their brains.

"What?" Yasuhara cried, as surprised as everybody else had been (except for Naru, who had already worked it out).

"Um, he came to me in the kitchen-"

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Ayako asked, instantly maternal and eyes searching for wounds.

"No. He was quite nice, actually." Naru couldn't resist raising one eyebrow. He'd been nice, so she'd stabbed him. That made a lot of sense. "He looked just like Naru, but I knew it wasn't him and when I asked him why he looked like him he said he just took his form so I could see him. And then we just talked…"

"About what?" Naru demanded sharply.

"Well, um, he said that he really wanted to move on, and I promised him that we would help him. And he once killed someone, but it was an accident and then the woman he loved got the blame for it. Oh! And he tried to something in life and he's doing it in death."

"Did he say what that something was?"

"No."

Naru turned back to his file. His suspicions had been right, that was good to know.

"So, Naru, what do we do know?"

"We help him move on, of course. All we need is to talk to him again. All of us, preferably."

"Er, so do we draw him out or what?"

"Unless we send Mai to make tea again."

"Um, hello?" The voice came from the doorway. They all turned to look at this new addition to their party. Naru raised an eyebrow. It was almost like having a twin again.

"Hi!" Mai waved enthusiastically. The-other-Naru smiled back.

"Hi."

"So, you're the one who wanted to move on."

"Um, yes. Could you help me please?" He fidgeted with his fingers nervously.

"Hara-san." Naru commanded. She nodded and came forth. They stared at each other for a brief second, then the ghost looked away.

"Um, can I just say something before I go? To Shibuya-san?"

Naru was faintly surprised, but didn't let it show.

"Last night… I'm sorry about that."

"That was you?"

"Er, yes. Sorry." Naru nodded.

"It's Kawamura-san, isn't it?"

"Yes." Kawamura turned back to Masako. "Okay, I think I'm ready now."

* * *

**END CASE! EVENTUALLY! Can't be bothered to write him getting cleansed... we all know what happens anyway. Didn't actually enjoy this case much, except for the ghost getting stabbed as Naru and some bits of Naru's weird spell after he had that dream.**

**Thanks for all the reviews. Some of them really made me laugh.**

**I wasn't sure about Naru's clairvoyance scene, because I don't know that much about what it's like or anything. So sorry if it's all wrong, but bear with it, okay?**

**I can't wait for the next case... heh heh heh... *snips scissors omniously***

**Please review!**


	61. 10 Betrayal part 1

Betrayal, Part 1

Haggis

Mai watched frustratedly as Masako came into the office _yet again_.

It was almost like she was on a loop.

It had, in fact, turned out that Masako had _not_, as Naru had claimed, had filming and thus couldn't come with them on their previous case. He just hadn't bothered to contact her, which was why she had turned up half way through the case. It was also why Masako's little trips to the office had become far more frequent, as she had decided to make up for any time lost.

She smiled at Mai before asking if Naru was in.

They both knew he was in. He wasn't exactly going to be anywhere else.

But they'd both gone along with the farce, and Mai had responded that yes, he was in.

They both were acting. Taniyama Mai and Hara Masako were at war with each other, you see.

But they acted as though they weren't. People who really don't get on can be so incredibly polite to each other.

Mai watched Masako go into Naru's office. She sighed. This so wasn't fair. All she wanted to do was fancy her boss, but Masako wanted him too and it got on her nerves almost all the time.

Okay, whenever Masako was in the room, which thankfully wasn't almost all the time.

But, still.

And she was still glaring 10 minutes later when Masako came out, only a few minutes before Naru had come out and told her to call everyone and tell them that they had a case and that he wanted some tea. He always wanted tea after dealing with Masako.

And that was how they had ended up where they were now. In a house, quite a large one too considering how small most of the houses nowadays were. But it was pretty, and far away from the city, so it was quiet and peaceful. Mai could barely imagine a vicious ghost lurking around.

Actually, Mai was lying to herself here. She had no idea what the ghost was like, let alone if it was vicious. They tended to come against vicious spirits. The ghost in their last case had been the first one for a long while that hadn't been out for blood.

"This is it?" Ayako asked. She was still wearing a head scarf.

"If it wasn't do you think we would be here?" Naru snapped back.

"No…" Ayako muttered. Trying to win against Naru was like trying to slam a revolving door.

"Um, hello? You're Shibuya Psychic Research, aren't you?" Everyone turned and in the doorway of the room a teen about Mai's age was standing nervously.

"Yes." Naru said stiffly.

The teenager bowed. "Thanks for coming to our house."

"What's your name?" Mai asked. Okay, he wasn't a patch on Naru looks wise but he wasn't bad and Mai needed to have some normal conversation with someone her age occasionally or else she'd go insane.

"Matsura Koichi." He replied.

"I'm Taniyama Mai. Nice to meet you." He smiled for a brief second at her.

"If there's anything you need, you only have to ask. Dinner will be served at 7." Koichi left.

"This is a nice house, isn't it?" Mai asked Ayako. She wrinkled her nose.

"Not bad. I prefer my own home."

Mai bit back a sigh. Of course Ayako would…

* * *

_Mai looked around. She was in the garden, and inside she couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful it looked, in this remote corner in the middle of the night. There was the sound of footsteps behind her and she turned. Her smile broadened. _

"_Naru!"_

_He smiled slightly in response and they sat down together by a pond. She rested her head on his shoulder._

"_How was your day?" She asked him. He frowned._

"_Annoying, as usual."_

"_Oh. I'm sorry."_

_He shrugged. "It's none of your business."_

"_Still…" _

_He leaned forward and kissed her._

"_It's none of your business." He repeated against her lips when he pulled away._

"_Hm." She pulled him down so they were lying down on the grass."You know, I always used to hate night time."_

" _And now?" He teased._

"_Now I can't wait for the sun to go down." He kissed her again and she kissed back aggressively, disappointed when he broke it off. "I love you." She mumbled._

"_I know."_

_She smiled. But then she yawned._

"_If you're tired you should go in." He stated. "It won't do you any good if you're found sleeping out here."_

"_I know." But neither of them moved until he lowered his head and kissed her, breaking off to kiss her neck. "It's colder tonight."_

_He sighed and laid back. "It's a clear night."_

_She looked up at the stars. "At least it's not raining."_

"_There's nothing wrong with rain."_

"_We can't meet when it's raining."_

"_True."_

Mai yelped as she woke with a start. She blushed furiously and gasped at her own dream's audacity. She was definitely _not_ supposed to be having such unprofessional dreams about her boss. She sneakily looked round the room. Both Masako and Ayako looked like they were sound asleep, so at least no one had seen her wake up so suspiciously.

The awkward thing about it all was that she felt sure that there was something important about this dream, it was more than a mere wishful fantasy from a girl who still for some inexplicable reason fancied her boss. But… there was no way she was telling Naru about this one. She knew that wolf whistles would immediately issue from wherever Yasuhara and Monk were, and she'd be teased mercilessly. And then Naru would find out that she liked him, and she would die of mortification and a broken heart following his unavoidable rejection.

Mai, funnily enough, did not want to go down that path.

She settled back into her covers. It looked early, so she decided to try and get a few more hours sleep. However, sleep was unwilling to come and she couldn't get her dream out of her head, it kept replaying and replaying…

Sighing, she got out of bed and dressed before making her way to base. She felt glad that when she stepped in the room Naru was not present (unless he was hiding) and there was just the steady clatter or Lin's fingers on the keyboard.

"Morning Lin-san." She said, smiling slightly. He said nothing, but nodded at her.

"You're up early." Mai said cheerfully. The clatter paused for a moment, before resuming. "Yeah, I guess you're always up early." Mai continued her one sided conversation after interpreting the pause.

Mai started pacing the room. "Where's Naru?" She said casually over her shoulder.

"Sleeping."

"Oh. Good."

She paced some more. "Um, I'm going… to go get something to eat, okay?" Lin nodded and she went out into the corridor, shutting the door gently behind her. She sighed. Suddenly her eyes flew open.

"H-hello?" She called out. She glanced up the corridor.

"Mai-san? Are you alright?" Mai spun around to see Lin watching her.

"Uh, yeah… I just thought I saw someone…" She glanced back over her shoulder at a definitely deserted corridor. "Hmmm." She frowned.

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I'll go and eat." She smiled and set off. She wandered into the kitchen and sat down on a stool. She pulled a fruit bowl towards herself and eyed it thoughtfully. Suddenly she spun around.

"Who's there?" She called.

"Chill Mai. It's just me." Monk said, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing. I just thought I saw…" She said, peering over his shoulder.

"What?" Monk frowned and glanced back to try and see what she was looking at. "Mai, there's nothing there." He looked back at her, frowning.

"Mai, are you okay?" He waved his hand in front of her face. She jumped with a start.

* * *

"The cameras have not picked up anything during the night. Hara-san, Matsuzaki-san, go through the house again." Naru stood up straight and turned to face his employees. "If you find anything Bou-san can exorcise it. And Mai… tea."

"Would it kill him to say please every once in a while?" Mai scowled.

"Apparently." Yasuhara said dryly.

"And Mai… take Yasuhara with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course." They set off.

"We don't even know if we're allowed to make tea." Yasuhara grumbled.

"I'm sure we will be."

In the kitchen there was a middle aged woman, who turned when they entered. She practically screamed 'sensible'. Her shoes were sensible. Her trousers were sensible. Her polo top was sensible. Her jacket was sensible. Her hair was in a sensible ponytail. Even her makeup was sensible. She looked like a very sensible business woman.

'Who are you?' She mouthed at them – she was on the phone. "Yes, I'm listening, Hiraki-san." Then she frowned. 'Oh, you're the ghost hunters.' She mouthed. 'I'm busy now, see my husband if you want something.' "I told you specifically _not_ to-" She sighed. "I know, I know. It's too late now, isn't it?" And she left the room, still talking to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"I presume that was Matsura-san." Yasuhara commented.

"Let's make the tea. If we can find it, that is." The kitchen was huge, and filled with countless drawers and cupboards and things. They stared experimenting by opening just about everything, but the cupboards were full of all sorts of items and seemed to go back for miles. Well, maybe a few meters.

"Do you need help?" They turned to see Koichi standing in the doorway, looking uneasy as he had when they first saw him.

"Um, we're looking for tea. Could you please help us?"

"Er, sure!" He smiled wonkily. "What tea do you want?"

Yasuhara and Mai exchanged a look. "Um, what tea do you have?"

"Lots. We have everything in this kitchen. Even something called _haggis_."

"Haggis?"

"It's an English dish or something. It's gross, don't ever eat it. Father buys it to look _cultured."_

"Er… right." Yasuhara said unsurely. "Do you just have green tea?"

"Of course." Koichi bent down and opened a cupboard, tossing several things out until he pulled out a jar of tea. He opened it and smelt it. "Smells like green tea. Just put it back where you found it, okay? Mother gets so annoyed if things aren't in the proper place. She's ever so busy." Koichci smiled wonkily again. "I should go now. Things to do, you know…" He drifted dreamily out of the kitchen.

"Seems nice enough, bit scatterbrained." Yasuhara commented once he'd gone.

"I think he's nice."

"You would."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Yasuhara whistled innocently. They made the tea without any spectacular event and made their way back to base. Mai handed Naru his cup of tea.

"Naru, what's a haggis?"

"A haggis?"

"Yup."

"And you are asking me this… why?" He said as nonchalantly as he could while his heart was thumping inside his chest, as he quickly thought of all the ways in which she could have known… and coming up with nothing.

"Well, because you know things."

"Oh, right." He almost sighed in relief, but as usual his face betrayed nothing.

"…Well?"

"It's a Scottish dish made out of various things, including blood, in a sheep's stomach."

"Oh. Eww!"

* * *

**Well... they wouldn't know what haggis is, right?**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! ^_^**

**And our laptop is fixed! We got this nasty virus called Vista Spyware 2011 or something like that. It's a nasty piece of work. Pain in the backside to get rid of, you need another computer to do it.  
**

**Please review!**


	62. 10 Betrayal part 2

Betrayal, Part 2

Jealousy

"So… what are we doing again?" Monk asked, stifling a yawn.

"You should listen sometimes." Ayako snapped.

"I do… but you didn't wake up at 6am."

"You shouldn't get up so early if you're going to complain about it."

"Hey, I can't help it!"

"Yes you can."

"You're just a late sleeper! I bet you'd sleep until midday if Naru let you."

"I'm not that bad." She sniffed.

He grinned. "Yeah yeah, sure-"

His sentence was interrupted when the room they were in suddenly started to shake violently, both of them sent sprawling. The lights flickered on and off and there was the sound of someone knocking on the walls.

"Nauman daksan-"

"Rin pyou tou-"

It stopped as suddenly as it started. Ayako and Bou-san stared at each other from other sides of the room.

"What was that?" She asked.

"The ghost presumably. And you said _my_ mind was screwed up because I get up too early?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Koichi had practically pleaded to Naru to let him help them.

Mai soon learnt that this was because he had nothing better to do and he was lonely. He last friend had turned out to be their dog that had run away a fortnight ago. No-one knew why, but it possibly had something to do with the fact that shortly before it's run away Koichi's mother had accidently kicked him in the head. But, as he reassured her, it was an accident. He'd been there at the time, and she simply hadn't been looking where she was going because she was on the phone.

Mai got the feeling that his mother was almost always on the phone.

But then they'd been going downstairs, when suddenly the world was spinning, and she realised that she was falling down the stairs.

They landed at the bottom in an ungraceful heap, but unhurt. Both of them blushed when they realised that were in a rather compromising and embarrassing position.

And Mai wanted the earth to open up and swallow her when the door opened. Of course, it just had to be Naru who found her in an intimate position with the son of their client. His eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before narrowing.

"Mai, I don't pay you to lie around on the floor." He snapped angrily. Mai and Koichi quickly got up, Koichi feeling like melting under Naru's glare. Naru grabbed Mai's arm and dragged her from the room, leaving Koichi standing still standing in the middle of the room.

"Ow, Naru! Let go! It hurts!"

"Tough." He said grimly.

"Let. Go!" She dragged her arm out of his grip. "God, what's with you?"

He didn't answer that, but by then they were at base.

"Where's Koichi-san?" Yasuhara asked when they entered.

"He stayed behind to do something." Naru lied. "He'll be back soon." If they didn't buy the lie they didn't show it.

"Naru-bou, we were attacked." Monk said.

"Where?"

"In a spare room. It shook, lights flickered and there were rapping sounds. Do you think it's a poltergeist?"

"It's possible. We'll see if one of the family is doing it tonight."

Koichi staggered in, not really sure if he wanted to face Naru again.

"Matsura-san, one of the monitors needs moving." Naru gestured to a monitor that was lying on the floor. "Could you please put it on the shelf."

"Sure!" Koichi said, relieved that Naru didn't seem to hate him. He picked it up and was struggling to place it next to another monitor when it suddenly toppled, showering him with shelving and monitors.

"Koichi-san!" Most of the team members cried out and jumped up to help him. An arm appeared, closely followed by a head.

"I'm okay!" He said, dragging himself out of the mess. "I'm sorry Shibu-"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't attempt to break all the equipment." Naru cut in smoothly.

"Sorry. I'll clean it-"

"Don't bother. I don't want _everything_ to break. Mai, Yasuhara, tidy this."

Both of them fixed the shelving and set the monitors right. Luckily, none of the monitors were damaged at all.

* * *

_Mai gazed up at the moon. She was in the same place as in her last dream. There was a tap on her shoulder. _

"_You're always here before me." Naru stated._

"_I like it here." She defended. "It's pretty."_

"_And outside."_

"_That's the main reason it's so pretty."_

"_Why can't we meet inside?"_

"_Because it wouldn't be romantic. And anyway, no-one ever really comes here."_

_They lay down on the grass and she cuddled into his embrace, her lips meeting his._

"_You shouldn't be so stuffy." She chided between kisses._

"_I'm not stuffy." He replied._

"_Sure…" She smiled, going in for another kiss. _

Mai blearily open her eyes to the sound of screaming, part of her thinking that whoever was screaming better have a damn good reason for interrupting her dream. She rolled over, becoming more awake and recognising the screaming as Ayako's.

"Someone do something!" Ayako screeched. Mai was now fully awake and jumped out of bed.

The reason why Ayako was screaming was because she was tied to the bed. By her hair.

There was the sound of the door opening and the rest of SPR ran in. Mai fumbled with one of the knots.

"OW! That hurts!" Ayako yelled.

"I can't untie it!" Mai yelled back.

"I'll go get scissors!" Masako declared and ran into the bathroom, returning with a pair of small scissors and neatly cutting off Ayako's hair, leaving knots of it tied to the headstand.

"My hair…" Ayako sobbed. Monk hugged her and tried to soothe her.

"Sshhh… it's okay…"

"It hurts…" She whimpered.

* * *

Once Ayako had recovered, she spent the rest of the day complaining about her new haircut. Which was surprisingly alright, considering Masako had lopped it in rather unusual circumstances. As a result, Naru sent her on countless errands - often with Koichi – to escape the noise.

Koichi wasn't having a very good day either. Most of the stuff he did kept going wrong. He'd come into base carrying a box full of whatever Shibuya-san wanted – mostly paper – and then he'd somehow drop it. And that wasn't the only thing.

"We need to move this table." Naru said. Koichi nodded and tried to heave the table – which he was sure wasn't that heavy – but it wouldn't budge. Several minutes later, Naru sighed.

"If I knew you were that weak I wouldn't have asked you." He snapped, setting down his file and easily shifting the table.

It was most perplexing.

Especially as he'd moved that table once before, and he'd never dropped things continually.

He glared at the offending object which he'd just tripped over. He was sure it hadn't been in the middle of the corridor earlier.

But he had noticed a pattern.

He only ever failed at his task whenever Shibuya-san was in the immediate vicinity.

* * *

"Noll." Lin said once they were alone in base.

"Hm?" Naru looked up from his file.

"You should stop being so immature."

Naru blinked in surprise for a few moments. Well, he should have known he couldn't hide anything from Lin. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said coldly.

"Just because you don't like Matsura-san isn't a reason to injure him." Lin continued.

"I haven't been injuring Matsura-san. You've seen me. I haven't been anywhere near him."

"You shouldn't use your PK as an advantage."

"I can assure you I'm not."

"Noll, if you're that jealous-"

"I'm not jealous. Why should I be jealous of Matsura-san?"

Lin sighed. Naru so obviously knew what he was talking about and so obviously was jealous, yet it was impossible to bang the message into his brain.

"Because you think Mai-san prefers him over you."

"That's no reason to be jealous of Matsura-san." Although his face was blank, he was scowling inside.

Lin sighed again. He resisted the urge to scream, 'It is a reason to you! If you like her that much, just tell her, you idiot!' while strangling his charge and/or beating some sense into him.

But instead he said, "Immaturity is not going to get you anyway."

"I'm not being immature."

Then Ayako and Mai entered and the conversation was brought to an abrupt end.

Naru thought over the details of this case. The test they'd done last night had showed that it wasn't one of the family, yet he felt that it was more than an poltergeist.

"Mai, have you had any dreams?" He asked, tapping his pen thoughtfully.

She shook her head eagerly. "Nope!" She lied. Like she was going to say 'yeah, I have, and in it all I ever do is snog you'.

He seemed to buy it and turned back to the file.

At the moment, only Matsuzaki-san and Bou-san have been attacked, he thought idly. I wonder why…

"Mai, tea. Matsuzaki-san, go with her." He ordered. They both nodded – Mai probably muttering insults under her breath, as per usual – and left.

"So, where's the tea?" Ayako asked once they were in the kitchen.

"Um… in a cupboard. I forget."

"Evidently. So we have to search all of them." Ayako sighed. Today she wasn't wearing a headscarf, seeing as the scabs had healed, but her good mood had been ruined by her haircut.

It seemed that there was every possible food item in the world in the kitchen.

"What's this?" Ayako mused, holding up a jar. "Flaki? I wonder what it is." Then she paled. "Eww."

"Why, what is it?"

"Guts, I think."

"Who would eat that?"

"I don't know." She carefully put the jar back. "It's some foreign dish."

"I wonder what ice-cream they have?" Mai wondered idly.

"You're not eating any. We're looking for tea, remember?"

"Oh! Here's some tea!" She pulled out a jar of tea leaves, opened it and smelt it. "Mint. That'll do."

It took significantly less time to find the kettle, because it was sitting on a counter. However, it wasn't the same with teacups.

"I found a teapot!" Ayako crowed triumphantly.

"But we need a tea _cup_. Not a tea_pot_."

"I know." Ayako grumbled as she put it back. Mai opened a cupboard full of plates.

"We'll never find anything at this rate!"

Mai beat her fists on a countertop. "Why can't we find anything? It's like the cupboards are being rearranged while we're not looking."

"I don't know. Naru's not here and he doesn't have that kind of twisted humour anyway. Or any humour, for that matter."

"True."

The door slammed shut with a bang, which made Mai and Ayako jump.

"It's so windy around here." Ayako said, frowning. Mai made her way over to the door and pulled.

"I've never heard of a wind which locks the door as well." She said quietly.

* * *

**Flaki is a traditional Polish dish. It's intestines.**

**Poor Koichi. I pity him. Naru really hates him now and he hasn't even done anything.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! We hit the 100 story favourites! Thanks everyone :)  
**

**And I know it's Morbid's turn to be updated (and then after that Cursed, and then Aftermath's turn) but I was quite looking forward to this and we're not sure what's going to happen next in Morbid anyway.**

**Please review!**


	63. 10 Betrayal part 3

Betrayal, Part 3

Flying Tea

"What do you mean, it's locked?" Ayako asked, moving forward to try the door. It rattled uselessly, but didn't open.

"Great. Now what do we do?" Mai asked frustratedly.

"Wait, I suppose. Why is this ghost picking on me?" She asked the room at large.

Mai jumped up so she was sitting on one of the counters. The kettle finished boiling, but they both ignored it.

Without warning, it toppled over, sending boiling water everywhere. Mai shrieked and jumped off the counter before it could burn her.

"I didn't touch it!" Mai cried, staring wide eyed at the innocent-looking kettle. Ayako eyed the various heavy or sharp objects in the kitchen and shivered. It was definitely the worst room to be stuck in with a malevolent ghost.

"Er, should we try banging on the door and shouting?"

Mai didn't answer but quickly moved over to the door. Soon they were both slamming their fists on the door and calling out to every member of SPR.

"Hey, shut up!" Monk's voice called through the door. Mai and Ayako stopped their barrage. "Crikey, I've been calling for five minutes. What's the matter?"

"The doors locked and the kettle was knocked over." Ayako said somewhat sheepishly. Mai leaned against the door and breathed out, feeling relieved now that someone knew where they were. Her eyes widened.

"That's it? Mai knocked the kettle over."

"No! Neither of us touched it." Ayako protested.

"Ayako, look." Mai whispered, goose bumps appearing on her arms.

"Hm, what?" Ayako turned away from the door. Her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Monk said through the door.

"Everything's been moved!"

Mai opened a drawer that 10 minutes ago had contained cutlery. Now it contained tins.

"…That doesn't sound that bad." Monk said evenly.

"It's awful!" Mai cried, throwing her hands in the air. "Naru's gonna kill me because I won't be able to make any tea!"

"…"

"…That wasn't what I meant…"

Mai slumped back against the door.

"But we would still like to get out of the kitchen some time soon." Ayako called.

"Alright, I'm working on it."

"Well work on it faster."

* * *

_Mai waited by the pond again. It was a clear night, and she could clearly see the moon reflected in the inky black waters. She idly lay down on her stomach and flicked water across the water's surface. She felt so nervous and there were butterflies in her stomach, like she was doing something wrong, waiting here for Naru. But what was there to feel bad about? _

_She rolled over so she was lying on her back, looking up at the night sky. She studied the stars for a while, but soon Naru's absence became overwhelming. Where was he? She longed for his kisses, the feel of his hair, his breath…_

_Where was he?_

_Nothing had happened, right?_

_No. She shook her head. He was just delayed, that's all. He would soon come. There hadn't been a night since that first night he hadn't come. Maybe once he'd been delayed, but he'd always come. _

_There was a sinking feeling as she realised that the gardens looked duller, less exciting without Naru there. She associated these gardens with him. Without him, the garden was beautiful but dead. Like it had no soul. _

_When was he coming? She felt restless. She waited all day for the night; she didn't want to wait even longer. She bit back her urge to pace. _

_She watched the sky start to lighten up with the coming of dawn. She left back for her bedroom, disappointed by her lover's absence._

* * *

Mai entered the kitchen, slightly surprised to see Koichi there. He smiled and waved.

"Good morning Taniyama-san!" He said cheerfully, all fears of Shibuya-san gone as he wasn't there.

"Good morning Koichi-san. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you." He was lying. He'd been having nightmares all night. Most of them involved Shibuya-san. "You?"

"I slept well." She started looking around for the tea.

"What are you looking for?"

"Um, tea. My boss wants tea."

"Try that cupboard over there." He gestured with the knife he'd been chopping up fruit with. She looked inside the cupboard and dug around until she found a jar of tea.

"You can just call me Mai, you know." She said, smiling friendlily at him.

"…Um… are you sure…? I mean, I don't want to be disrespectful or anything…"

"No, please. It's a lot nicer than Taniyama-san."

"Okay Tani- Mai."

"See? It's not so hard."

He nodded. "Can you call me Koichi then…? It's just if I get to call you Mai, you get to call me Koichi."

"Deal."

She put some water in the kettle.

"My boss is such a tea addict. It's practically impossible to keep up with him." She poked the kettle, and yelped when she felt how hot it was.

"You shouldn't have poked it." He stated simply. Mai couldn't help noticing just how different he was to Naru. Koichi was plain, and nice, whereas Naru was secretive, and such a jerk.

"I couldn't help myself…" She trailed off, realising that her choice of words made her seem like a masochist. She sucked nervously on her finger. Mai watched his hands absently while she waited for the water to boil.

"Oh… you have a bruise on your wrist…" She noticed. "Is it okay?"

"Huh?" He stopped chopping, and she took his wrist into her hand.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing that I know of!" He took his wrist away and prodded his bruise. "It hurts a bit." He commented before returning to chopping.

"What do you think you're doing?" A quiet, but cold voice inquired from the doorway.

Mai spun around, to see Naru standing in the doorway, looking at both of them with a weird emotion in his eyes which she couldn't distinguish, but then he hid it.

Koichi was surprised at the sudden voice (which sounded like Shibuya-san!), jumped, and the knife slipped and he slit his finger.

"Ah! Ow!" He cried as pain exploded in his finger. It felt like a really bad paper cut, but with a bit more bleeding.

He put his finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding.

"Good morning Shibuya-san." He said with a mouthful of finger. "I hope you slept well."

Naru ignored Koichi.

"Mai, I sent you to get tea. What's taking you so long?" His voice was as cold and sharp as the knife Koichi had just cut himself on. They all knew what was taking her so long, but it was interpreted in different ways by different occupants of the room.

"I was simply talking. No need to be impatient." She took out a cup and quickly finished the cup of tea. "Here you go. Stop being a jerk."

"We're going back to base." He said, not taking the tea cup. He turned and left the kitchen, leaving Mai follow him and make faces at his back which he pretended to ignore. She mouthed 'I'm sorry about your finger!' at Koichi, who nodded faintly.

The dark aura coming from Naru was suffocating. She looked sadly at the teacup, which looked like it was going to freeze from Naru's coldness if it stayed any longer in his presence. She could almost hear the crack of frozen tea breaking under the pressure.

"Naru?" She asked timidly. He turned, looking at her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything. She studied him for a moment.

"That was totally uncalled for!" She exploded. "I was just talking to him! And the kettle had just finished boiling anyway." She added, knowing full well that it wasn't the point but also that it wasn't even anyone's fault the tea was taking so long. Except maybe the kettle manufacturer's.

Naru again said nothing, but at least he had the decency to look away.

"And you made him cut himself! And what do you do? You could have said sorry or something!" Mai waited, but Naru didn't move a muscle, let alone his lips. "You know what? Here, you can have your precious tea!" She shouted, before throwing the teacup and its contents at him. Then she turned and fled.

Naru turned to look at the spot just above his shoulder and the tea now running down his jacket.

* * *

Yasuhara and Monk shared a look. The silence in the room was repressive, and you could practically die from electrical shock on the sparks between Mai and Naru. The whole group was glum, unsurprisingly.

"Matsuzaki-san, Bou-san, go through the house and exorcise all the rooms." Naru snapped. The pair in question didn't need to be told twice (even Monk), and were out of the room as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Thank God. I thought I was going to die in there." Ayako breathed thankfully as soon as the door behind them was shut.

"I know. I wonder what happened?" He mused.

"I don't know, but Naru must have done something really bad."

"Hmm."

"Erm, excuse me?" A small voice said behind them. They turned to see Koichi.

"Yes?"

"Er, well, is Mai okay?" He asked timidly. Monk caught Ayako's eye.

"…Yeah… Why?"

"Um, well I just hope I didn't get her in trouble, that's all."

"Why would you get her in trouble?"

"Uh, I was in the kitchen and Shibuya-san came in…." Koichi explained. There was a silence when he'd finished. Then Monk spoke.

"So, you call her Mai huh?"

"Er, she said I could. Was that wrong?" Koichi asked nervously, desperately trying to read his face.

"No, it's fine. And don't worry, Mai's fine." Ayako smiled reassuringly at Koichi, while pulling Monk in the opposite direction. "Sorry, have to go. Nice seeing you!"

"Ayako! I was trying to see if he liked Mai." Monk said reproachfully.

"It doesn't matter if he likes Mai, you know she likes Naru." Ayako pointed out. She glanced around, and then moved closer. "You know before, when Koichi was trying to help?"

"Yeah… he kept on hurting himself."

"Exactly. He kept on hurting himself, remember?"

"That's what I said."

"No, you're missing the point. How did he keep on hurting himself?" Ayako said slowly, as though she was explaining something to a child.

"Er, tripping, the monitors attacked him… dropping things. And?"

"And Naru has PK…"

Monk suddenly got it. He stared at her wide eyed. "He wouldn't though. Would he?"

Ayako didn't bother answering his question. "So that _proves_ that Naru likes Mai!"

"She'll never believe it though." Monk's shoulders dropped.

Ayako froze as she felt a cold hand on her head. Before she could react the hand grabbed a handful of hair and pulled.

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry, we haven't updated in absolutely ages :( sorry about that. In our defence my exams have only just finished and so has art (which was much more work), so after a breif period of R&R we're back to writting. Sorry as well that this chapter is a bit bitty, but we need to get back into practice I guess after so long. But at least we've now gotten over the MASSIVE writers block. Phew. Having loads of stories kinda helps actually. So yeah, sorry again! Don't hate us 0:) **

**And thanks for the really nice reviews! 200 yesss! very happy b^^d  
**


	64. 10 Betrayal part 4

Betrayal, Part 4

Pairings

Ayako arched backwards as her hair was pulled away from her. Bou-san started up a chant, but broke off when a freezing cold hand made sharp contact with his cheek.

Ayako had no choice but to follow her hair as she was practically dragged down the corridors of the house, Bou-san following a little way behind. Suddenly it stopped, and Ayako sobbed with relief now that the burning sensation was gone from her scalp. However, it didn't last long.

She screeched as her hair was let go, a millisecond before her body hit the stairs and rolled down them.

"Nau mandak san bazaran dankan!" Bou-san chanted from the top of the stairs. Immediately, the temperature became noticeably warmer, and he sprinted down the stairs to where Ayako lay, sobbing, at the bottom of them. "Are you okay?" He asked, helping her up.

"No, I am not okay! I was just dragged by my hair and then thrown down a flight of stairs! I am not okay!"

"Sshhh." He soothed, hugging her while she sobbed into his shoulder. He decided that stroking her hair would not be a good decision. When her sobs had become muffled hiccups, he stepped away. "We'll go to base, okay?"

She nodded.

When they got to base, Ayako was immediately fussed over in varying forms until Naru (who'd been sitting and watching the scene before him with a mixture of amusement and annoyance) coughed and everyone knew that this was a non-verbal way of telling them to shut up.

"Matsuzaki-san, you are not to go alone anywhere. You must be with at least two people, and preferably both of them will have defensive powers."

"Good luck." Mai whispered into Ayako's ear. "That means spending most of the case in base with those two chatter-boxes." She jerked a thumb towards Lin and Naru.

"I'm turning into you. First a ghost uses my forehead as a canvas and now another ghost has a vengeance for my hair. It's not fair." She remarked sadly. Mai gave her a sympathetic glance. She knew how she felt.

Seeing as Ayako was now confined to base, people had to go around the house in different groups. Ayako was confined to base with Lin and Bou-san, John and Yasuhara was one group, and Naru, Mai and Masako the other.

Mai wasn't sure to be annoyed or thankful that Masako was there, as she craved for alone time with her boss yet the last time the two of them had been alone hadn't exactly been the most enjoyable experience.

Either way, the three of them walked in complete silence, and Mai wondered idly. She decided to try and settle the question as to why Naru had even come in the first place. Surely it would be easier for him to stay in base and send Bou-san with them instead. She doubted it was because of Ayako's safety. Lin was more than capable when it came to protecting himself and others from spirits – as far as Mai could remember, he was the only one in their group who hadn't ever been attacked in some way or another by spirits, so Bou-san was hardly needed, and as Mai looked around, she realised that Masako, Naru and herself didn't have the most effective defensive powers.

Masako had said she had defensive powers, as a medium, but she'd been easily kidnapped by Urado, and even though this time they were in a three, Mai wouldn't bank on her powers if a spirit actually came.

Although Mai hated to admit it, her own powers were hardly top-notch. She'd been attacked more times than she cared to remember and more often than not forgot to use them.

And Naru… Naru wasn't going to be using any defensive powers.

Her musings, however, were brought swiftly to an end when she felt a large bonk on her head and realised that she'd been so deep in thought that she'd actually walked into a wall. She stumbled back and raised a hand to her forehead, which had taken most of the pain.

And it seemed that the other members of her group had been deep in thought, too, because evidently none of them had noticed her embarrassing incident as they were nowhere to be seen.

Grumbling under her breath about how it wasn't fair and that her skills for getting lost in a place she shouldn't of once again had shown their talent, and mentally wincing at the prospect of Masako being alone with Naru, she trundled down corridors and up and down stairs, marvelling at how she didn't recognise where she was at all. Any doors she came across were closed, and she was too polite to peek in a room, so she walked down identical corridor among identical corridor. She soon realised that it was getting dark, as a skylight showed. She shuddered. She didn't even know why Masako, Naru and she had even gone walking anyway.

But she tried – and failed – to compose herself. She was alone, in a house which was haunted by a crazy ghost, and it was rapidly becoming dark.

_At least,_ she thought, _my chances of getting attacked are low._ _I mean, Ayako's the only one who's been attacked._

Feeling a lot perkier with this somewhat comforting thought, she continued her descent into whatever it was. Insanity, death, spirits, it could have – as far as Mai was concerned – been anything.

Without warning, there was a sudden, sickening crack.

"Look out!"

Before she could register anything, there was a hand shoving her forwards and then a massive crunch, and a showering of dust and splinters. Mai lay on her back, panting slightly.

"You… are… impossible." Naru groaned out as he lay on his stomach, neither of them bothering to do anything about/noticing his arm which had decided to drape itself over Mai's stomach.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. Besides, where did you come from?"

"I was looking for you."

Somewhere inside of her felt warm and fuzzy when he said this. He cared enough to go looking…

"Why did you go off on your own, you idiot?"

Warm fuzzy feeling gone.

"I didn't mean to! I was just thinking and got distracted! Besides, how come you didn't notice that I was missing? And where's Masako?"

"Hara-san's in base-" His sentence was cut off when a large rumble shook the corridor, both of them sitting up.

* * *

"You two took your time." Ayako remarked dryly from a card game with Takigawa. She was irritated that everyone else had the freedom to go out and get attacked but she didn't. Bou-san staying with her hadn't really improved her mood. She looked up. "God, what happened to you?"

"Part of the ceiling collapsed and then we were attacked." Naru grumbled in response and flopped down in his chair, trying to quell his headache and wonder why oh why he'd went and looked for Mai when he could have forced Bou-san or John to go. But then that ran the risk of- No, it was better that he'd gone with her, even if it earnt him a few cuts and bruises. The others would let her talk to him, and she needed to be protected.

His usually perfectly logical thinking patterns were definitely not working properly. He didn't stop to ask why she needed protecting in the first place – what could Koichi do to her? Nothing was the obvious answer, but only to someone who'd decided to ask the question in the first place. This person was not Naru.

"How?" Lin asked quietly, annoyed that, yet again, his charge was being stubborn and not letting him do his job. It happened on a regular basis, and it was most vexing.

"It strangled me."

Although Naru's voice was quiet and nonchalant, everyone heard it, and the silence was thick.

"What?"

"It tried to strangle me." He continued reading a file, turning over a page.

"So, what did you do?"

"Mai got rid of it."

"So at least we know the ghost isn't very strong." Ayako commented.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad at defending myself!" Mai protested. There was a pointed silence. "Humph." Mai crossed her arms and turned her nose up.

* * *

**Sorry it's short, but we just couldn't think of what write next. And sorry we haven't updated for ages, our laptop has a virus and our mother is fussy about us using her laptop. Not to mention, Pokemon Black is like the first pokemon game with a plot. And N Harmonia in it. I love N, he's so awesome.  
**

**Naru is so painfully obvious .**

**There's a guy at my school, and he's really nasty to my friend and I. But one day he was acting nice, for example, he went into the library (where we two hang out 'cos of the computers) and sat down next to me. Now, my friend and I have a habit of plugging in two keyboards into one computer and then typing messages to each other because it's awkward when you're talking about killing people and having people attacked out loud. He said it was a good idea to plug in two keyboards! And was actually being okay.**

**So, us, being the Ghost Hunt freaks we are, decided he was possessed and that we had to cleanse him.**

**We went up to him and I put a hand on hsi shoulder and told him that he had to move on etc.**

**We knew he was back to normal when he told us to piss off :D**

**Oh, and sunday (24th) was Aftermath's first anniversary!  
**


	65. 10 Betrayal part 5

Betrayal, Part 5

Twice Dying_  
_

_Mai toyed idly with a piece of grass. She barely heard the footsteps coming from behind her. She stood up and turned._

"_Naru!" She bounded forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Where were you last night? I waited until it was almost dawn but you didn't show up-"_

"_I'm afraid it was unavoidable." He said. _

"_But you're here now." She smiled, and tilted her head to kiss him. She was so absorbed in the kiss that she didn't notice him moving them closer to the pond, not even when she was standing on its banks._

_He broke off the kiss, and moved his hands so that they rested on her shoulders, by her neck, instead._

"_Goodbye, Mai."_

_She barely had time to open her mouth to question his words when his hands pushed her and she fell clumsily into the pond. His hands forced her to stay underwater, and she struggled against him, trying to get air, but his grip was too strong._

_She looked, through the water, into his eyes. They were as cold as ice, no love or affection in them. He looked down at her with… hate. _

_Mai realised then, as she fought for her life, a battle she couldn't win. _

_He didn't love her. That was the reason why he hadn't come last night._

_She felt so betrayed that at that moment she almost didn't care if he murdered her. The man she loved hated her enough to kill her._

_Black spots appeared and her body felt like it was on fire despite the cold water surrounding her._

_Then her world went black._

_And she knew she was dead._

* * *

Mai sat up in her bed, heart racing, breathing uneven. She looked around, eyes still wide with adrenaline from her dream. It must have been early in the morning, for neither Ayako nor Masako was up. She lay back down. It was a dream. A dream. But still…

The tears ran down her cheeks, dripping off her chin.

Dying was not something you easily got used to.

She wished bitterly that she had someone here to hold her and comfort her, but she didn't have the heart to wake up Ayako.

She knew the dream was psychic. You only got that amount of realism in psychic dreams.

That also meant that her previous dreams had not been, as she had thought originally, mere fantasies.

It took a while for her sobs to die down. She curled up, intent on going back to sleep and trying to enjoy the rest of the morning.

But her brain wouldn't let the dream go.

The worst thing had been his eyes.

If they'd been the eyes of someone possessed, it wouldn't have been as bad. Yes, the man she loved would have killing her, but it wouldn't have been him. She would have known that he hadn't wanted to hurt her, it was all the spirit's fault.

But they'd been clear, and so full of hate and ice. He hadn't cared for her. He wanted her dead.

Realising that she wasn't going to be able to get any sleep, and hoping that her eyes weren't tired and puffy from crying, she climbed out of bed and got dressed before making her way to base.

She could hear quiet talking coming from inside base – Naru and Lin talking. And Mai knew it was bad to eavesdrop, but, god, it was so tempting.

"…shortly before his marriage, he died unexpectedly, and it was presumed to be suicide, however I don't think so… Let's hope Mai has a dream so I can link together-" Mai barely heard the snort from Lin. "What is it?" Naru asked coldly.

"Of course you'd slip Mai into a conversation."

"Lin, sometimes I want to strangle you."

Hesitantly, she knocked on the door, silencing the conversation.

"Come in."

Mai entered meekly. She saw the vague surprise on both Naru and Lin's faces – probably as to why she was up so early.

"Mai, why are you here?"

"I uh… I had a dream and I couldn't go back to sleep…" She said, aware that Naru had been talking about her having a dream about a minute before she had entered, and ignoring that nasty feeling that Naru knew a lot more about the case than he was letting on.

"What happened?"

Mai paused. She had to be careful, here.

"I was drowning, but it wasn't an accident – someone was holding me down." She couldn't contain the shiver, not unnoticed by Naru and Lin. "And I knew the person who was holding me down quite well. I, uh…" She trailed off, blushing. "I think he was my, er, lover."

"I presume you died at the end of the dream?"

She nodded, grateful that he hadn't asked how she knew it was her lover that had been drowning her.

"How did you know it was your lover? Was there anything before the drowning?"

Damn, how could she speak so soon?

"I just knew." She said decisively.

He gave her a calculating look. She had to stop herself from gulping. If he found out exactly what her dreams had consisted of, she'd never live it down. Lin looked faintly amused.

After a few silent moments Mai realised that he wasn't to interrogate her, and plonked herself down on the sofa.

"What time is it?"

"About 6."

Mai raised an eyebrow. She knew that the workaholic-duo got up early, but _that_ early? It was a wonder that they weren't zombies. She shifted so that she was lying down, closing her eyes and keeping her breathing regular as she started imagining Naru and Lin as various things – vampires, robots, zombies…

She was broken out of her silent musing by a voice.

"Is she asleep?"

She didn't move, hoping she could fool the duo.

"Probably. You are aware of how long she sleeps in normally, yes?"

_That stupid jerk. When I'm done pretending to be asleep I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!_

She could practically hear Lin rolling his eyes.

"You should be nicer to her."

"I am what I am."

"And we're all too aware of that. But, you still should be nicer."

Naru was silent.

"And, given your… attitude, being nasty is not going get you anywhere."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Naru said coldly, a sign that he knew very well what Lin was talking about, but didn't want to admit it or talk about it.

"Naru, the temperature's dropping."

"Where?"

"One of the corridors."

The conversation had drifted back to work, and Mai found herself actually falling asleep. She let it wash over her.

* * *

"Mai, why are you sleeping on the sofa?"

She opened her eyes, to see John looking down at her with curious blue eyes.

"I, er, had a dream and couldn't sleep so I came here and fell asleep."

John nodded understandingly.

The day passed slowly. Naru seemed to have a lead and was chasing that down, meaning that everyone else spent most of the time in base, or talking to members of the family (except for Koichi, who seemed to have formed an aversion to Naru, and Mai wasn't really sure why but she left it).

* * *

Mai woke up with a gasp. Then she mentally groaned. Of course she'd wake up in the middle of the goddamn night. Sighing, she slipped out of bed and left the room.

She padded down corridors, her bare feet silent. She went down a flight of stairs, and down more corridors, eventually coming to the kitchen. She flipped the light on, grateful that the kitchen was far away from any bedrooms as she didn't want to wake anyone up. She paused for a moment, not even 100% sure why she was in the kitchen in the first place, but she was there now. She started rifling through cupboards. Maybe there was a tea that would cure her sudden insomnia.

"What are you doing?" She turned and jumped, but relaxed when she saw it was only Naru. And then had to stop the onslaught of heat as she realised that he was only wearing pyjamas. Admittedly, so was she, and it was the middle of the night, so it was to be expected, but…

"I could ask the same thing of you." She retorted, turning away from him.

"I couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same." Okay, it wasn't quite true, but she didn't feel tired at all so she decided it wasn't quite a lie either. "And I was wondering if they had any tea for insomniacs."

He shrugged. "I don't know. They might have sleeping pills, if you want some."

She smiled at him. "Do you want any?"

He shrugged, but didn't reply. He sat down at one of the barstools by a counter.

"It's unusual for you to be up this early."

"I told you, I couldn't sleep." She said hotly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Since when can't you sleep?"

"Since… now. Anyway, I came into base last night at 6, didn't I?"

"Only because you had a dream."

"Still. Anyway, I'm not like you, getting up at 5 each day and going to bed at midnight."

"Mai, you know nothing of my sleeping habits."

"You'd be surprised."

He smirked. "Go on then."

"Er, what?"

"Surprise me."

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Seeing her flustered face, his smirk broadened.

"Well… sometimes I'll come into your office or into base and you're asleep."

"And vice versa. You spend an awful lot of time sleeping on the job." Dammit, she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

She opened her mouth to retort back when there was a rumble and the whole room seemed to shake, the lights flickering.

"Not again…"

Thankfully, the lights stayed on, and the shaking and rumbling stopped.

"Mai, get behind me." Naru snapped, and she squeaked as she did so, trying not to focus on the how close together they were, looking over his shoulder (he was crouching slightly).

A white figure seemed to merge in the center of the kitchen, slowly taking the form of a woman. Naru and the figure glared defiantly at each other for a few moments.

"Mai, I want you to run and go get Lin. Understood?"

She nodded and moved slightly, watching the ghost. Then she made a dash for it, but froze when the woman cackled ominously. She turned, slowly.

To see a knife coming straight for her.

"Move!"

Again, a hand pushing her out of the way. She fell clumsily against the floor, the air almost knocked out of her; she stood up, ignoring the aches.

Naru had taken the knife for her.

"Naru!" She couldn't contain the scream. He dropped shakily to his knees. She ran to him and carefully pulled him down, arranging him so that he was lying with his head in her lap. His breathing was harsh and shallow, and she could see the unmasked pain in his eyes.

"It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. I'll go and get Ayako, okay? And I'll call an ambulance. You're going to be okay." She said, her voice laced with panic.

"…s-stay…" She barely heard his voice, and her heart nearly shattered. She could feel the tears running down her face.

"Ssshh. You've survived worst, right? You're going to be fine. It's all going to be okay. You're going to live."

She wasn't sure whether she was saying it to comfort herself or him.

But she could see the bloodstain, spreading out from the wound, staining his pyjamas red, and they both knew it.

He wasn't going to make it, no matter what she said.

He convulsed in pain, and she cradled him.

"It's going to be fine…" She brushed hair out of his eyes, not bothering about his blood staining her pyjamas too. "Soon you'll be right as rain." She lied. "And you'll be reading another book… you'll be complaining about us being too loud… you'll be demanding tea…" Despite it all, she nearly smiled, remembering those times.

He stopped convulsing and then his eyes slipped closed, his breathing slowed and stopped, a peaceful look on his face.

He was gone.

Part of Mai felt relieved that he wasn't in pain anymore. She let her tears drip onto his calm face, and then wiped them away.

"I love you." She said, even though he was past hearing her. Then she let her sobs wrack her body, never letting go of his body, as though hoping she could somehow magically restore him to life.

But reality wasn't life a children's film. Her tears couldn't heal him, no matter how hard she wished or cried.

She sobbed to the silence of the kitchen, with only a dead body for company.

* * *

**Sorry we couldn't have anything going on during the day, but otherwise this chapter would have been really really long. And poor Koichi. He's terrified of Naru.**

**Thanks for all the reviews :3**

**Oh, and just in case any of you guys get the wrong idea, Naru and Mai's pyjamas are the same ones they wear in the bloodstained labrynith (her pink flowery ones and his blue ones).**

**In my Sims 2 game I made a sim called Mai Taniyama (who turned okay) and another one called Oliver Davis (who didn't turn out as well, I had to make him wear a fricken polo shirt because in sims 2 they don't have normal black shirts). They got married :3 and Mai got pregnant. And gave birth to twins. Identical twins. Although I did panic a bit at first because I thought that if she gave birth to a boy I'd call him Eugene, but when she gave birth to twins I was like 'FFFUUUU what do I call them!' so I had to do with Gene and Noll.**

**Please review!**


	66. 10 Betrayal part 6

Betrayal, Part 6

Awkwardness

Mai, for what seemed the hundredth time, woke up in the middle of the night with a gasp.

Her brain whizzed through her latest memories.

"No…" She muttered. It had to have been a dream. She was always having psychic dreams which felt like real life.

Then she realised. Either it'd actually happened, or it was a psychic dream, meaning that something was very, very wrong. She whipped back the covers, jumping out of bed almost simultaneously and ran out, not caring if she woke everyone up or not.

When she was out in the corridor she paused. Where could she go? Not the kitchen, she didn't want to go there ever again. Naru's room. She resumed sprinting, almost crashing into a wall as she rounded a corner.

She didn't bother to knock on the door. The first bed was empty, neatly made. The second bed was occupied by a body. Not tall enough to be Lin-san. Naru!

She ran to his side, almost forgetting herself for a second as she looked at his calm face, but it reminded her of why she was here. She shook him roughly. She let out a sigh of relief when his eyelids fluttered and opened.

"…Mai? Wh-" He was cut off when Mai practically ambushed him, hugging him and sobbing.

"Thank god you're okay! I was so scared!" She said, her voice somewhat muffled by her sobs. "I thought you'd actually died! It was so scary!"

"Mai, you're not making any sense. What happened?"

"I had a dream and it was so scary, you died and I thought it was real and that you'd actually died!"

"You had a dream in which I died?"

She nodded. He frowned slightly.

"What happened in it?"

"I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep so I went to the kitchen and then you came and then the ghost came and it stabbed you and you died!" Mai said rather hurriedly.

"Firstly, slow down. I can barely understand what you're saying. Secondly, that sounds like…" He trailed off, expression thoughtful.

"Like what?" She asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"You woke me up from a dream I was having. I woke up in the middle of the night and went down to the kitchen. You were there – complaining about how you couldn't sleep – and then the ghost appeared."

Mai could feel her eyes widening. It was just like her own dream…

"D-did you die?" She asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper despite the fact that they were the only ones in the room.

"No, actually. You were the one that died. Stabbed. We had the same dream, except for which one of us died."

Neither of them spoke for a while after that. An owl hooted outside.

Suddenly, Mai's limp body landed on Naru, almost making him jump. A quick look at her showed that she'd fallen asleep. He was about to move her away when she wrapped her arms around him and sighed in her sleep.

He froze, and then took a deep breath to calm himself. All he had to do was carefully unwrap her arms and put her down...

Which is what he would have done if Mai hadn't been so damned determined to not let him go.

Which left him with two choices. He could either wake her up and get her to go back to her own bed, or he could just stay like that.

Opting for the latter, he then wondered if he'd have to spend the rest of the night sitting up, and debated moving.

Moving, as it turned out, was a complicated process.

Although Mai's top half went with him, he realised that he had to move her legs for her, which is a lot harder than normal when you have to awkwardly twist to get at them.

So it was several minutes later that Naru was in a comfortable enough position, after decided that if Mai wasn't comfortable then it was her own fault.

"Hmmm… Naru…" She murmured in her sleep. Naru briefly wondered what she was dreaming about, but decided that unless she said something else he wasn't going to find out.

As at to what he was going to say to her in the morning… well, he'd imply heavily that it was her own fault for falling asleep in the first place.

And who cared that the bed was technically only big enough for one person? If both of them kept close together, something that Naru didn't doubt as Mai was still awkwardly hugging him, if you called it that, then there was no problem space wise.

It wasn't long before he felt himself doze off.

* * *

"Mai's missing!"

"Isn't she still asleep?" Bou-san asked.

Ayako shook her head. "I looked at her bed when I woke up, it's empty!" She said, eyes still searching the obviously Mai-less base.

"Mai-san's asleep." Lin said from his chair. Everyone swivelled to look at him.

"How do you know that? Where?"

"Oh, and where's Naru-chan?" Yasuhara asked, deciding that if Lin said Mai was asleep then she probably was.

"If Mai-san was awake then we'd probably hear a loud shriek." Lin said carefully.

"Why? She's okay, right?"

"She's perfectly fine."

"Well where is she? And Naru?"

"Naru's still asleep."

"But where's Mai?"

Lin hesitated.

"They're both in Naru's bed."

And then Lin wished he had a camera so he could take a photo of their faces at that moment. And then he'd probably send it to Madoka. He also wished that he'd taken a picture of Naru and Mai cuddled together, Madoka certainly wouldn't have wanted to miss _that_. And maybe his parents, too… After all, they made a surprisingly cute couple.

"And, er, how do you know this?" Ayako ventured.

"When Naru wasn't here at his normal time I went to go and have a look in case something happened. I found them both sound asleep in his bed." Seeing Yasuhara's somewhat smug and gleeful face he added, "And they were both fully clothed. _Nothing happened._" He stressed the last line, just in case it wasn't enough. Yasuhara's face fell somewhat, but Lin wasn't sure who to pity more – Naru or Mai – when they both got out to base, seeing as they were both obviously in for hell of a lot of teasing this morning.

Almost as if on cue, an embarassed shriek rung in the air – definitely Mai's.

"She's awake." Lin said, turning back to his work.

* * *

Mai tried to open her eyes, but they felt heavy so she soon gave up. She felt tired and achey, not doubt from all the getting emotional and panicking last night… She decided that she was going back to sleep, even if Naru docked her pay, as her bed was so warm and comfy. She sighed in content, thinking that she was in most comfortable position in the world, the golden warmth surrounding her, the surprisingly pleasant weight around her waist… She snuggled into the blob – a pillow maybe? – that was in front of her.

And then, somewhere in her brain that wasn't hazed by sleep realised a few things.

A, why was there a weight around her waist? That surely shouldn't be there.

B, why did that weight feel suspiciously like an arm?

C, there shouldn't be that 'warm blob' in front of her.

D, the warm rhythmic breezes that were ruffling her hair slightly was almost certainly someone's breathing.

And then her brain arrived at the solution.

She was sharing a bed with someone.

That really woke her up, much to her disappointment as she felt like she never wanted to move again. Besides, the person she was next to smelt really nice, and was so warm... She felt so protected and safe.

But still, she opened her eyes.

And was met with the sight of someone's chest.

Obviously male and dressed in a light blue pyjama top.

That could only mean…

(Well, no wonder he smelt so nice and she felt so protected and safe).

She opened her mouth to shriek at this rather embarrassing revelation, even though there was a part of her that was screaming at her to just go back to sleep and enjoy it while it lasted.

Her shriek was cut off suddenly by a hand placing itself in front of her mouth.

"Good morning to you too." Naru said dryly. When he felt satisfied that she had stopped screaming, he removed his hand. Neither of them bothered to move, although neither of them noticed that the other obviously didn't want to move.

"I- you – we… bed… together…" Mai said brokenly, blushing like mad.

"That was your fault." He said.

She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "How is it _my_ fault!"

"You fell asleep on me. And hugged me and refused to let go."

"Couldn't you have done something?" She wailed, taking stock of their position. His chin rested on the top of her head, his arm lazily around her waist, while she was snugly cuddling into his chest.

Mmmm… it felt nice…

She pushed away from him, and because the bed was only meant for one she fell out of it, dragging the duvet along down with her. He sat up amid the unwelcome cold air, chilling his body, and looked down at her.

"That was your fault too." He said pointedly.

"That was your fault! You didn't have to sleep in the same bed as me!"

"You made it unavoidable." He said.

"How did I?" She challenged. Then she could practically see his logic shredding her in two so she stood up. "I'm going to go and get changed." She glared at him, and left the room, hopefully with a shred of dignity intact.

* * *

_It had to be just my luck_, Mai thought, _that someone caught me sleeping in the same bed as my boss._

She eyed Naru enviously, as she was taking the brunt of the teasing, probably something to do with his seemingly magical inability to blush.

Bastard.

So it was her who had to put up all the innuendos and hints and teasing.

"For the last time, will you shut up!" She yelled. "I had a dream which creeped the hell out of me and you guys can't even show a tiny bit of sympathy!"

"You had a dream?" Bou-san asked, and then Mai realised that she hadn't told them about her dream.

She nodded. "I had a really bad dream in which Naru died and I thought it was real…" She was immediately hugged by almost everyone. They all knew how badly Mai's dreams affected her.

"Wait…" Ayako stood back and narrowed her eyes at Naru. "How do you it's not a psychic dream? Naru could be in danger!"

"It was a psychic dream, but it had nothing to do with Mai's abilities." Naru said.

"And how do you know?" Ayako asked haughtily.

"Because I had exactly the same dream. Except that in my dream, Mai was the one who died, but they were still essentially the same. You can't get coincidences like that, meaning it was a psychic dream which was shared, but Mai's abilities and my own are different, meaning that it was a dream of no meaning."

"That's odd." Bou-san said, nodding his head in agreement, "because I had a weird dream last night too."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I had a dream in which I woke up in the middle of the night and went down to the kitchen, and then Ayako came and the ghost killed her."

Mai's eyes widened noticeably. Woah. Like her and Naru's dream.

"Really? I had the same dream!" Ayako said. "But you died."

"Did anyone else have a dream last night?" Naru asked. Everyone else shook their heads. "Interesting…"

"But why us four?" Ayako wailed, obviously not happy about being a 'chosen one' if it meant having creepy dreams.

"I don't know." Naru said. "This is very rare and unusual."

Suddenly everyone was racking their brains, trying to think of something that connected Naru, Mai, Ayako and Bou-san.

Without warning, Yasuhara laughed. "Oh, that's genius." He breathed. "That's great. You know what? I think I like this ghost a lot more now."

"What is it?" Mai asked, annoyed.

"You have to think of it as two sets of pairs."

"Pairs?"

"Yep. And then it becomes obvious."

"Can't you just tell us?"

"It's more fun if I leave you to sweat it out."

* * *

**Yeah, well, it was a dream. Relieved or disappointed?  
**

**And you guys can't imagine just how awkward I felt when writing this. Even if I've always kinda secretly wanted to have Mai and Naru sleep in the same bed one day. But I'll say this again: NOTHING HAPPENED BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM.**

**Just to make it clear, y'know.  
**

**And I imagine you've worked out what's special about those four and why they had the dream.**


	67. 10 Betrayal part 7

Betrayal, Part 7

Hinting

Mai felt like, to put it bluntly, strangling Yasuhara.

For some reason, she'd been paired with him and they were wandering the hallways together, and Yasuhara was _still_ teasing her. Seriously, you'd have thought he'd have moved on by now, but oh no. Her sharing a bed and having a dream was all Yasuhara could talk about, it seemed. And what was worse was that by now Naru had probably clicked that she had a major crush on him. Just her damn luck.

"Look, Yasu, he only had that dream because I had one about him so he had to have one about me." She said bitterly.

Yasuhara briefly wondered why people in love were so damn blind.

"Don't be so glum Mai. I'm sure he enjoyed last night _very much_… if we exclude that bit where he had a dream where you died. I don't think he enjoyed that."

Mai suddenly wished she had Naru's ability of making grown men come close to crying just by glaring at them.

"Mai!" A voice called from her left. They both stopped and turned to see Koichi, who was running towards them. "Good morning Mai. Good morning Yasuhara-san. I trust you both slept well?" He said in his usual polite manner.

"Oh, Mai-chan slept _extremely well_." Yasuhara said, winking suggestively. However, the wink was lost on Koichi, for he was one of those scarily innocent teenagers you come across now and then.

He sort of got the emphasised 'extremely well' bit, and nodded meekly, not really sure if he wanted to spend any more time in the presence of Yasuhara. Mai blushed tremendously and elbowed Yasuhara very hard, who muffled an ow.

"What he _means_ is, 'we had a very pleasant night'."

"_Very_ pleasant, in Mai's case."

"I hope Shibuya-san wasn't too harsh on you earlier."

"Oh no, don't worry about that." Mai laughed nervously, waving her hand.

"Actually, Naru was very nice to her, if y'know what I mean." Yasuhara said, tapping his nose, something that was also lost on Koichi.

"Oh. I'm glad. He seems rather scary." Koichi said, not picking up on Yasuhara's second meaning.

"He is-"

"To everyone except Mai."

"Yasu, I am perfectly capable of finishing my own sentences!" Mai wailed, wondering if Yasuhara was at some point going to let it go before he died. "Ignore him." She said to Koichi. "He's just immature."

Koichi nodded slowly, as if not having a proper grasp on the word 'immature'.

"Anyway, I'm afraid Naru is scary to me, so we must go. Nice talking to you." Yasuhara said, before setting off down the corridor, dragging Mai with him.

"Yasuhara! That wasn't very nice. And you didn't have to keep hinting to him things that didn't happen!"

"Y'know, I hate to say this, but he's almost as stupid as you and Naru when it comes to love."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Well, he didn't pick up on any of those hints at all."

"I meant about me and Naru being stupid love-wise."

"Oh, come on, do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Evidently." She grumbled.

"You and Naru are practically destined to be together! You both fancy each other like mad, but you're both so dim you can't even see it!" He protested. Mai was about to say something along the lines of 'there's nothing between us' when she felt a slap.

And another. A forceful tug on her hair. She cried out in pain.

"Mai!" Yasuhara shouted, wishing he had some sort of defensive powers to help. The transparent form of an irate woman practically ripped Mai's hair out from the roots.

"You. Bitch!" The ghost hissed, proving that she may have been dead for several years but she'd picked up some modern language. She slapped Mai's defenceless cheek and Mai whimpered in pain, tears forming unwillingly. "How could you? How could you? I thought you understood!"

"Un-understood what?" Mai managed to gasp" out.

"I thought you would sympathise!" The ghost wailed melodramatically. "I thought you would understand what it felt like! But, oh no. You just had to go ahead and do it didn't you? Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!"

Somewhere, a metaphorical light bulb lit up.

"You- You're…" Mai gasped out.

"Nau man dak san bazaran dan kan!" The spirit vanished instantly. Mai sank down to the ground.

"God, Mai, are you okay?" Yasuhara asked, running over to her and helping her up.

"I'm fine…" She said.

"You sure?" Monk asked worriedly, from Mai's other side. She nodded.

"…But I would like to go back to base please."

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Mai, what happened?" Ayako fussed, staring at the red mark on her cheek.

"The ghost hates me." She complained.

Ayako enveloped her in a motherly hug and stroked Mai's hair. "What do you mean?"

"The ghost came and pulled my hair and slapped me." Mai sniffed. "And said I was a bitch."

"You're not a bitch. She's just jealous of you." Ayako soothed, trying to work out what Monk was mouthing behind Mai.

"She's the one from my dream." Mai continued sadly.

"The one who killed Naru?" Ayako asked. Mai paused.

"Yeah. And I took her place in another dream."

"Another dream?"

Mai nodded. Before Ayako could say anything else Naru spoke.

"Bou-san, Hara-san and John, I would like you to come with me." He said, frowning slightly and standing up. "And Matsuzaki-san." He added almost as an after-thought. Ayako gave Mai an apologetic look and stepped away from the hug.

"Where are you going?"

"That's none of your concern."

"What?" Mai stared at him.

"It's nothing of your concern."

"But-!"

"Stay here Mai."

"Fine!" She folded her arms, desperately trying not to look upset. The others tried to smother giggles, except for Masako who daintily did an irritated sniff. The group left, leaving a sniffling Mai, a slightly confused Yasuhara and a silent Lin.

"He's such a jerk!" Mai spat out, sitting down. Yasuhara sat down next to her.

"I'm sure he has his reasons."

"Yeah, he doesn't want to face his assistant who was just called a bitch. Some reason." She angrily kicked out. "And why aren't I allowed to come? I'm part of this team too!"

"Calm down Mai. He probably doesn't want you to get hurt. I mean, they're probably off to do an exorcism, and as you just got targeted, there's a risk you'll get hurt again."

She gazed at him, although he got the impression it was more through him than at him. Then she sniffed loudly.

"Lin, does Naru know who the ghost is?"

"Yes."

"Why doesn't he tell us anything?"

"I don't know."

"I mean, doesn't he trust us?"

"Listen Mai, I know you're upset but you should probably stop this. Naru does trust us. Naru does care about us. He's just not very, er, good at showing it. I mean, what do you want to do, follow them or something?"

Mai's eyes glinted dangerously. "That's a good idea."

"Er…"

"It was your suggestion." She muttered darkly, standing up and grabbing his arm, pulling him up as well.

"Woah, Mai-"

"We're going."

"Lin! Lin!"

Lin watched them go with impassive eyes.

* * *

"I, personally, like to think of this as mission impossible."

"In what way is it impossible?"

"Er, Naru's a hawk in his spare time?"

She gave him a look.

"Okay, okay. What do we do now?"

"We watch."

"But we're far away… and if we get too close they'll see us."

"We hide, duh."

"Well, unless you want us to paint ourselves, climb a tree and pretend to be birds, where do we hide?"

He had a point. There was a distinct lack of suitable bushes to hide in. Mai frowned. What to do, what to do…

* * *

Masako sniffed daintily from behind her kimono sleeve. She gave a sideways look at Naru, who promptly ignored it. She sighed. He had a determined glint in his eyes which she knew meant that he was either annoyed or bored with the ghost and was hell bent on exorcising it.

She knew her role.

"She's by the pond." Masako said quietly, moving her hand slightly so that her words wouldn't become muffled. Naru nodded. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to finish up the case. He was carefully watching Ayako and Monk, who were, thankfully, walking together. Monk said something to her, and she laughed. Naru bit back a smirk. With luck, this was going to be easy. John fiddled nervously. He had a feeling that Naru was being sneaky and he didn't like it much.

"Uh, Naru…?" John asked.

"Yes?"

"Um, who is this ghost?"

Naru paused before answering. "Kishi Emiri. Died in Meiwa 2 (1765). Murdered by her lover in the pond."

There was a pause. "Why?"

"I don't know. It was over 200 years ago."

"Sorry, I meant why is she attacking people?"

" Kishi-shi was, naturally, in love with her lover. He didn't return the sentiment, obviously. She grew bitter at couples because her own lover had betrayed her."

John frowned. "But then, doesn't that make yo-"

"She didn't always attack couples. Sometimes she'd presume that two people were a couple when in fact they weren't. Take Matsuzaki-san and Bou-san."

John nodded. The relationship between those two was high up on a list of things that confused him. "They're not dating. But Ayako-san was attacked more than once."

"Correct."

John nodded again. Masako stiffened and stopped abruptly.

"She's coming!"

And that was how the exorcism started.

* * *

"Mai, I don't really think you've got the hang of this…"

"Shut it."

Mai was up a tree.

"Come on, let's go in. It's over already. And it wasn't that exciting."

She sighed. "Fine. Wait a mo- Ahhh!"

Her foot got stuck and twisted, causing her to fall ungracefully out of the tree. Luckily, she wasn't that high up so she wasn't injured.

"Mai, you're such a klutz." Yasuhara laughed after he helped her up.

"Can't help it." She sniffed. The others were approaching them, and there was no escaping now so they both waited awkwardly

"Mai? Yasu? What were you doing up a tree?" John asked bemusedly.

"Well-" Mai started to say, when she was interrupted by Ayako.

"I have to say Mai, I am surprised. I didn't expect to find you hiding with strange boys." She raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm not a strange boy!" Yasuhara protested.

"Seriously, you should be more careful. You don't know what they're like."

"Says you. Carrying on with that Monk, honestly Ayako, you don't know what ulterior motives he has." Mai folded her arms, on eyebrow raised into an exact copy of Ayako's.

Naru rolled his eyes and stalked off, muttering something about working with idiots.

* * *

**Sorry for the crappy chapter. I really want to move on from this case, and I was really stuck because I had no idea on how to write the exorcism, which is why it's so vague. But yay, end of case. So new stuff is coming, promise.**

**So thanks for reviews etc. **

**I also have no idea what to write here, so I'll just get on with this and update it. **

**Please review!  
**


	68. 11 Patience part 1

Patience, Part 1

Birthday Presents

The 19th of September.

It was one of the days that Noll hated the most in the calendar.

For the first 15 years of his life, he'd shared his birthday with Gene. And then Gene had gone. All too suddenly, he had to suffer birthdays on his own. They hadn't been _too_ bad with Gene. Gene was more than happy to enjoy their birthday and blow out the candles on the cake. At least here no one would force him to do something as ludicrous as blowing out candles on a cake. Or make him unwrap all of his presents in front of everyone.

After deciding that taking enough sleeping pills to keep him comatose for the whole day was probably not wise, he sulked the whole way to the office. Luckily, Lin knew all too well that he'd be grumpy for the whole day and the way to not worsen his mood was to not mention birthdays or presents or cakes.

Unfortunately for Noll, there was one person who was determined that Noll shouldn't ignore his birthday.

* * *

The door flung open. A shadowy figure appeared in the opening, the light from behind it leaving the people in the office unable to see the face.

"Naruu!" A voice crowed. Inside his office, Naru buried his head in his hands. There was no mistaking his mentor.

"Madoka?" Mai asked, slightly surprised.

"Mai! Long time no see! Good to see Naru hasn't scared you off yet. Is he in? Don't tell me he slacked off today. He tried that once, would you believe it?"

"Er…" Mai said, blinking hard at Madoka's fast talking. "Naru's in. Why wouldn't he?"

"Oh, sometimes he tries to sneak off." She shook her head, sighing.

"Why?" Mai couldn't think of a reason why Naru _wouldn't_ come into work. Illness, injury, bank holidays, Christmas… Nothing stopped him.

"Oh? Didn't you know? Didn't Lin tell you? I mean, Naru I can understand… but-"

"No-one's told me anything!" Mia wailed, mentally pointing out that any conversations she had with Lin were generally rather short and one-sided.

"Today's Naru's birthday!" Mai felt her eyes widen. Naru's birthday…?

She could imagine why someone like Naru, who was, let's face it, a social recluse, disliking his birthday, especially when someone like Madoka turned up every year.

But on the other hand… She hadn't gotten him anything! He could have at least told her. Or Lin could have told her, so she'd have been prepared.

Madoka, meanwhile, had entered Naru's office much to his annoyance.

* * *

Naru, unsurprisingly, had breathed out a sigh of relief when Madoka finally left, although she had left him with a brightly wrapped present, which he'd hidden carefully in a cupboard.

But that sigh of relief was short lived when another female entered the office. Masako. And apparently Mai had accidently let slip to her that it was his birthday today. Oh, joy of joys.

She stood on the other side of his desk, smiling slightly, presumably to be endearing or something. "So?"

He frowned. On one hand, he didn't want to take the case. On the other hand, he didn't want to give into Masako.

"Fine." He sighed. Her smile grew broader.

"I knew you'd help me out. Here's all the contact details." She gave him a slip of paper which he prevented himself from glancing at as it was left on his desk. And then she'd left, and for a few blissful minutes Naru was left to dwell and try to not strangle someone. Why did birthdays have to be so troublesome? Mai had never looked disgruntled when it was _her_ birthday. Then again, their personalities were drastically different and Madoka hadn't popped up. Although, knowing her, she'd probably be _glad_ to see Madoka. He decided that he was never ever going to understand Mai. Predict her, yes, read her, yes, but understand her? No.

* * *

"Yasu! Thank god you're here!" Mai said in a hushed voice.

"Mai? What is it?"

"It's Naru's birthday and I-"

"Woah woah. It's his birthday? He has a _birthday_?"

"-Yes, and I haven't gotten him a present because I only found out today! What do I do? What do I get him? I have to get him _something_!"

"How about a birthday kiss?"

She gave him evils.

"It'd certainly be cheap. Economic value. And it's not like he'd complain or anything."

She continued giving him evils.

"Don't give me those looks. I mean, what teenage boy is going to refuse a kiss from a pretty girl?"

"This is Naru. He's hardly normal." Mai said, blushing slightly. "Kisses are out of the question. Full stop. Besides, they're hardly birthday presents."

"You could always give him _more_ than a birt-"

"Yasuhara, if you don't stop with the physical-contact presents, I am going to inflict pain."

"Well, why not a book? That's what you got him last time, isn't it?"

"But it wasn't for his birthday! And what book would I get him?"

"Um… History again?"

"He probably knows everything all ready. I mean, it's practically part of the job requirement."

"True. Ummm… Science?"

"He's a fricken' genius!"

"He'll have read everything on the paranormal and psychic powers… Let's just go down to the store and see if you find anything that fits. That's our best bet. And he won't over hear. When's your break?"

"Um." She looked at her watch. "Not long. But I've finished everything all ready and he may not notice, he's been sulking in his office all day. I'll write a note, just in case though." She ripped a piece of paper and scribbled something hurriedly on it. "Come on, let's go." She said, grabbing her coat and bag.

* * *

"Here again? Don't you know any other bookshops?"

"Nah, I love this place." Mai said, looking fondly at the faded wallpaper where it was visible.

"Non-fiction's at the back. See, I remembered."

"Very impressive." Said Mai in a not very impressed voice.

"Hey, what about manga?"

"Yasu-"

"It'd be amusing, let's face it. Bleach… Naruto… Death Note…"

"There's a girl in my class who loves Death Note. Every time someone chokes or holds their chest she yells, 'Kira's stricken again!'"

Yasuhara laughed. "That sounds fun. Though Naru wouldn't need a Death Note, he's got his very own Death Glare…"

"Not all the time, trust me. It gets pretty annoying after a while. Anyway, we don't want to give Naru any ideas. He already has too much ego and giving him a manga about a boy with an I-Think-I'm-God complex killing people is not, frankly, a good idea. Not to mention the obvious, he hates fiction."

"Yeah. Vampire Knight?"

"Yasu." Mai had a no-nonsense voice on. It sounded quite a lot like Ayako's no-nonsense voice.

"I suppose Ouran High-"

She swiftly grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged, dragging him to the non-fiction area.

"-School Host Club is out of the question?"

"Definitely. Now, help me. I have to get him something."

Yasuhara sighed and pushed his glasses up. Mai absently ran a finger across book titles.

"Errr…"

"You know that time Ayako brought in one of those portable DVD player TV things in?"

"Yeah."

"We were watching Ratatouille on it-"

"Ratatouille?"

"Yeah, and at one point Naru came in and looked over our shoulders to see what we were watching."

"What did he say?"

"It was that bit where the rat's talking to the imaginary chef, and he just said, 'Schizophrenic' and walked away."

"I don't think he understands the point of Disney…"

"Me neither. Something about mental illnesses?"

"Hmmm..."

The task seemed fruitless. Mai was wondering if she should consider giving up and buying Naru something small and easy. Like a keychain?

"Oh! Isn't there that book about a child psychopath? Um… We Need To Talk About Kevin?"

"It's fiction. And what did we say about teenagers killing people?"

"Okay, okay. Um, what about that chemistry book? That's still here. Guess there aren't many fans of advanced chemistry about."

"I can't think of anything!" Mai wailed, clutching her hair. "Why does he have to be so _difficult_?"

"He's Naru, that's why."

"Excuse me, can I help you?" The same middle aged woman from last time asked them.

"We're looking for a gift for a friend."

"What do they like? Any interests?"

"He's into psychic powers and ghosts and spirits. But he's already read several books on them…"

"What about…" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "A book of ghost stories?"

"Oh no. He hates fiction."

"He's a very serious person."

"Oh. Er…" She closed her eyes. "Any other interests?"

"Um…"

"Maths or physics or science or something?"

"Would he be into that?" Mai asked Yasuhara.

"I don't know. Serves him right for being so difficult if he's not."

"Ah. Um… what about history?"

"That's what we got him last time. He already knows a lot about history."

"I'm sorry but I can't think of anything." The woman shook her head.

They left the shop, disheartened.

"Gah! He's so infuriating. I swear, he's the hardest person to buy presents for!"

"What did you get him for Christmas?"

"It was a nice fountain pen. I've seen him use it in the office sometimes. But I can't get him another one."

"Surely you could sleep on it tonight and buy it tomorrow? I mean, he's hardly going to care if you give him a birthday present the day after his birthday."

"No, I need to give it today."

They'd migrated to the park while they were talking and sat on a bench.

"When do you have to be back?"

Mai checked her watch. "MY break officially ends in half an hour. I only have half an hour left…" She rested her head in her hands. Yasuhara patted her back.

"What about Bou-san? Does he have any ideas?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him today."

"Call him."

She fumbled with her phone before speed dialling a number. "Bou-san? I need help. Urgently. No, nothing's happened, but it's Naru's birthday and I don't know what to get him! Any ideas? We already tried books. Couldn't find anything." Suddenly Mai made a disgusted noise into the phone. "Not you too! Physical-contact presents are a no go area, okay?" Yasuhara raised an eyebrow. "Okay then. Sorry to waste your time. See you!" Mai hung up. "He could only think of books and kisses too. Just like you. Maybe I should ask Ayako. At least she won't be as perverted as you guys."

"Hey!" Yasuhara pushed his glasses up at the insult.

"Do you think Lin would have any ideas? He'd probably come up with something sensible."

"I need to go soon, so I can't help you on that front."

"Argh. Why does everything have to be so complex?"

"It's the way life works. I have to go. Bye!" Yasuhara Got up and left, waving. Mai waved weakly back.

Why couldn't Naru, for once in his life, be easy? Or normal?

Then Mai thought of all the times Naru'd been normal. Human.

Actually, there'd been quite a few of those.

She sighed wistfully.

"Are you going to spend your entire lunch break sitting on a bench?"

Mai jumped. Naru sat down next to her. Talk about being difficult. She couldn't buy a present while he was here!

"Naru! You practically gave me a heart attack!" (Kira's stricken again! Jk…)

He sipped from a plastic take away cup. "You're meant to have ESP. One would have thought you'd have sensed me before I actually spoke."

"How long have you been watching me?"

"I was hardly watching you. I just noticed you sitting on a bench and not doing very much."

"But it isn't even time for your lunch break."

"I'm an efficient worker. I wasn't doing anything so I figured I could take an early break."

She sighed. Looks like she'd have to get him a present tomorrow. She might be able to buy it after work, but even then she'd have to give it to him tomorrow.

"We have a new case."

"We do?"

"It's not far away but we'll probably spend nights there. You need to tell your school."

"Okay. Should I tell them it'll be a week?"

"Yeah. That should be fine." He took another sip from the cup.

"What're ya drinking?"

"Tea."

"Oh." She should have guessed, really. She kicked at the ground and glared at a young woman who was looking at Naru until she felt uncomfortable enough to look away. "Have you had lunch yet?"

He nodded distractedly.

This is like a really really bad date, Mai thought. Where it's not working out and things are bit awkward but you're too polite to leave halfway through.

"Oh." As if on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"You haven't, have you?"

Soundlessly, she shook her head.

"Then why were you sitting on a bench if you were hungry?" He asked, confused.

"I was thinking and lost track of time."

He sighed.

"You should probably go and eat something then. I'll see you back at the office." Yet he made no move to move.

"Okay then." She said, standing up. Gah. He could at least be gentlemanly and offer to come with her or something. "I suppose I'll see you in a bit."

He nodded, taking another sip of tea. She hovered for a bit, hoping that he'd come with her.

"I thought you were going to go and eat." He said, amusement tainting his voice.

"Er, yeah, I am. Bye." She walked off, not looking back.

* * *

**Go after her Naru! Jeez.**

**And this is what happens when I end up watching Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name through the night. Too many crappy jokes.**

**Sorry this took so long... I wrote a bit and then didn't know how to continue on it. So yesterday I just deleted that bit and carried on in a different way and before I knew it it was 1500 words. So sorry this is a bit of a long chapter and nothing really happens in it. Promise the next one will be on the case. Promise!**

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews~ They help~**

**I've got yet another idea for a always happens when I get writer's block, but I won't write it up for a long while. Maybe when Cursed is nearer to completion...**

**Please review! ^^  
**


	69. 11 Patience part 2

Patience, Part 2

Poltergeist?

"So, Jou-chan, did you get Naru-bou anything after all?"

Her expression fell and she shifted the monitor in her arms. "No. I couldn't think of anything to get him."

"Oh well. I'm sure he doesn't mind."

"That's not the point. I wanted to get him something special."

"Well, Christmas is in a few months, so you can get him something special then."

"I suppose." She said, her mouth in an unhappy line.

"Come on, it's not so bad."

She turned away and continued setting up base. It mattered to her. She wanted to get him a present to show him that he was important to her. That she cared. That to her, he wasn't just her boss, he was her friend too.

Or something along the lines of that. Thinking about it, it didn't have to be _that_ symbolic.

But she couldn't think of anything at all. Nothing seemed suitable; she hadn't seen anything that he might like.

And she did feel guilty about it.

* * *

"Hara-san, do you sense a presence?" Naru asked the next morning, tapping his pen against the desk.

She let her eyes slide around the room. "Yes. But I can't tell you very much about it. It's hiding its presence."

"Surely if-" Mai started, looking up from her school text book she was reading to make up for all the school time she was missing.

Masako held up a hand, silencing Mai.

"I can't sense what its age or gender is or what emotions its holding, however it's not a hollow spirit. But I do sense a presence, yes."

"If you sense anything more about it, let me know."

Masako nodded.

"Next time Mai, I'd appreciate it if you _didn't_ interrupt me."

Mai stuck her tongue out at Masako's back. Naru gave her a sharp look, but didn't comment.

"Now now, calm down ladies," Monk grinned. Both Masako and Mai glared at him. "Blimey, I was just joking." Monk muttered.

Naru cleared his throat. "Mai, Bou-san, we need to conduct the interviews."

Mai groaned inwardly, she knew what that meant. Making tea, bringing tea, smiling reassuringly over the tea cup as she drank the tea in an attempt to reassure the victims Naru was grilling, telling Naru off, getting more tea… Oh the joys.

"Mai!" Naru barked, and she realised that the others were waiting at the door for her. She hurriedly stood up, blushing with embarrassment at drifting off mentally. So great was her hurry that she immediately tripped over the chair leg and careered straight into John, who yelped, but broke her fall.

"Today is so not going to be my day." She muttered, cringing inside and blushing magnificently. She stumbled down to the kitchen without damaging her self esteem any further and set about making the tea.

Ten minutes later a normal coloured Mai walked into the sitting room and surveyed the first interviewee. She was… impressive. And leggy. Very leggy. And was it natural to have such large eyes? Mai was sure that she was very pretty… if only you could see her face behind all that makeup. And those eyelashes HAD to be fake.

And was that coquettish smile directed at LIN?

"Ahem, this is my assistant Taniyama Mai." Naru glared at her. Mai remembered herself and bowed. However, the interviewee only gave her passing glance before returning attentions to Lin. Mai blinked in surprise.

"Jukodo-san, have you ever had any paranormal experiences yourself?" Naru asked sternly, as if trying to keep a disobedient child in order.

"No, not really. Occasionally stuff moves, but that's it."

Naru drummed his fingers silently on the table.

"You think it's Nao, don't you?" She said, examining manicured nails.

"It's too early for that." Mai frowned. Nao…?

"Are you finished?"

"You can go." Naru skim read a document. The woman immediately got up and left, though not before giving Lin a passing wink, who, unsurprisingly, didn't acknowledge it.

"Naru, who was that? And who's' Nao?"

Naru gave her an incredulous look. "Mai, are you ever aware of what's going on around you? That was Miyoko-san just now. She lives in America, but is here for her sister's funeral – Nao. The activity started around the same time she died."

"Oh." Mai said, sheepish. She did recall faintly someone telling her similar information but she hadn't remembered it. "Who's next?"

Naru frowned imperceptibly. "We'll ask the daughter, Chihiro-san." Mai nodded. "Could you go and find her and bring her back here?" It was phrased like a question but Mai knew all too well it was an order.

"Sure."

* * *

"Chihiro-san!" Mai called. She'd heard from the girl's father that she was outside, yet she couldn't see her anywhere. Mai sighed in frustration and hopped from foot to foot. Naru was gonna yell at her if she wasted too much time.

Her musings were brought to a sudden standstill as a cry erupted from somewhere further within the garden.

A battle cry.

"Roar upon the frosted heavens, Hyourinmaru!" A girl leapt out the bushes, screaming out as she did so, before landing in front of a surprised Mai.

Mai took in the girl, wielding a presumably fake katana and wearing a white sleeveless haori which Mai recognised as being out of an anime. Oooh, what was it called…?

"Chihiro-san?" Mai tried, somewhat weakly, as there was a katana being pointed at her, and although it almost was certainly made out of plastic, it probably would hurt a lot if it was pushed into your chest.

"Who're you?" Said the girl.

"Taniyama Mai. I'm one of SPR…"

"Are you a soul reaper? Or a hollow? Or a visored?"

"Err…" said Mai, not really used to classifying herself as one of the three. The girl turned, and Mai saw the black cross inside a diamond on the girl's back. Ten. "Human?"

"Then how come you can see me?"

"Um… because you're human too?"

The girl frowned and lowered the katana, her shoulders dropping in defeat. "Don't you know about Bleach?"

"I've never watched it. Or read it."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry. But I really don't know what a soul reaper is. Or a hollow. Or a visored."

"They're types of things. It's too long to explain."

"It's Chihiro-san, right?"

She nodded " Yup. Call me Chihiro. Who are you?"

"Taniyama Mai, but call me Mai. My boss wants to speak to you about the paranormal activity that's been going on."

"Okay. Do you like it?" Chihiro said, gesturing to her outfit, including katana.

"Err… who are you cosplaying as?"

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Chihiro protested, as if Mai should know this. "You must have heard of him. He's awesome."

"Uh…"

"Come on, he's like, amazing… one of the most popular people in Bleach. Probably the most popular. And he's so cool!" Chihiro's voice went up a notch. "I mean, his zanpakuto is the strongest ice and water zanpakuto in the _whole_ soul society. And he's so clever! I mean, he's a child prodigy and he's the youngest person ever to become a captain. But he's a bit short."

Mai nodded mutely, aware that she was in completely unfamiliar territory. She still felt a bit out of her depth when they entered base. If Naru was surprised at Chihiro's get up, he didn't bat an eyelid. She laid the katana on the table, absently stroking it.

"Jukodo-san, have you ever experienced any paranormal activity yourself?"

She looked lost for a second. "You mean ghosts, right?"

Mai nodded encouragingly while Naru gave one curt nod. The girl stopped to think for a moment. "The lights! They turn off and then suddenly turn on again. And there's the knocking and banging. And then the furniture moves suddenly. I saw it once! The chair, it just moved across the room, like someone was dragging it across the room but there was no-one there. I'm not lying!"

Naru felt like he had a headache coming on. "I believe you Jukodo-san. Is that it?"

She shook her head eagerly. "And then there's when you feel like someone's watching you, but no-one's there… and you feel their breath on the back of your neck… and yet there's no-one there… And there was that one time all the windows smashed. It was just spontaneous, like… CRASH!" She used dramatic hand gestures to prove the point of all the windows smashing at once. "It was very expensive, and I got cut, I remember that."

"…Is that it?"

"Errr… I think so."

"You may go now."

Chihiro picked up her katana, hugging it fondly, and ran from the room, haori billowing out from her.

"It sounds like a poltergeist." Bou-san observed. "I reckon… Nao-san died, right? And then she got changed by something and is now just a regular poltergeist, with no memories or anything left."

Naru drummed his fingers on the table. It did sound like a regular poltergeist, much to his disappointment. Then he frowned.

"Hara-san sensed a spirit, not a poltergeist."

"She could be wrong."

"She hasn't proved us wrong yet, though." Bou-san paused for a moment, considering the younger man's words.

"I suppose you're right…"

"And Nao-san only died a few months ago."

"How did she die?" Mai asked impulsively out of her curiosity. Naru gave her a passing glance.

"It was an electrical accident."

"Oh." Mai said, not really sure if she wanted to know.

"I'll do a test on the family tonight; see if it's a human poltergeist. We could ask Denjiro-san what activity he's experienced but I reckon it'll be the same – poltergeist criteria."

"Then what do we do?"

"Bou-san, could you do a sweep with Hara-san and John of the house. Cleanse every room, just in case."

"Argh, so much effforrttt…" Bou-san leaned back in his chair.

"Mai, go over the footage we've recorded so far. See if you pick up anything."

"Then what will you do? And what will Lin-san do?"

Naru and Lin exchanged a look. "We'll check into the background history of the area. See if we can dig up on anything."

* * *

So it came to be that Mai was sitting in base, a set of headphones on and watching the seemingly endless stream of footage.

Nothing exciting was happening at all. Occasionally, the screen would go static or an object would rattle or something similar, and then she'd call Naru over, who'd have a look over her shoulder before saying absolutely nothing and going back to his seat.

"Hm?" Mai said, taking off the expensive looking head phones. "Did any of you guys say anything?"

Naru and Lin gave her a look. "No."

She frowned. "Oh, okay." She put the headphones back on, and replayed the tape, turning the volume dial up.

_..Huh? Is that someone's voice?_ She could hear a soft, almost inaudible murmur in the background. She replayed it again, turning it up even louder in a hope that she could hear more clearly.

_It sounds like a woman…_

She replayed it again and again, each time she heard more and more of the voice.

And then suddenly surprise and shock jolted through her like a bullet. She fell backwards the off the chair, it falling on its side and rolling slightly with a loud crash. She stared, speechless, at the still playing scene on the monitor of an empty hallway.

"Mai? Mai!" She barely heard Naru's voice. She couldn't react, she couldn't. Every muscle in her body had tensed up, and she couldn't move. She was unable to do anything except, from her position on the floor, to stare in total and complete shock.

And then she started to cry.

* * *

**I feel sleepy right now. That always happen after I cry. But I was desperate to see that film! I mean, I really really really wanted to see the new Tintin movie and so on friday I was all. We. Are. Seeing. That. Movie. This. Weekend. So we checked film times and I thought we'd see it today at 3:30. Then Mum changed the time so my sister could see her boyfriend (who's in hospital) to 6:15. Fair enough.**

**There's a traffic jam on the way to the cinema and my sister was 10 minutes late getting out of the hospital but we made it just in time. And we entered the cinema and realised that we'd gone to the wrong cinema (actually we didn't even know where the cinema that we thought we'd go to was). So we ask what time they're playing Tintin in 2D. 7:15. We'd have to wait an hour or see it tomorrow.**

**I wanted to wait. But then Mum would miss Downton Abbey and she'd end up going to bed at midnight and she has to get up a 5 for work. So we're going to see it tomorrow (and I hope I'll get all my homework done, but I can't be sure). But I was so hyped up for it so I was really disappointed.  
**

**I want to curl up with my Children of Mana game T-T  
**

**Please review!**


	70. 11 Patience part 3

Patience, Part 3

Blood and Tears

Mai sobbed and sobbed on the floor, distant to the sounds of those around her. Naru crouched down next to her, cautiously putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Mai." She didn't react. He sighed, and looked to Lin, who was busy replaying the footage Mai had just watched. He couldn't hear anything on the tape that'd upset her, either. Lin frowned.

Naru shook Mai's shoulder gently, not actually sure if it was a wise thing to do. As someone who didn't break down and cry on the floor he had very little idea on how to comfort someone who was doing so. "Mai, what was it?"

"There, it was, there was a voice." She bawled out.

"A voice?"

"I could hear it, on, on the headphones, and it, it was talking."

"What did it say?"

"And I listened until I could hear what it was saying. And, and, I recognised it."

"Recognised it?"

"I, I could hear her talking…"

"Her? Mai, who was it? What did they say?"

"It was, it was my mother…"

The room went painfully silent. Naru's mind raced.

_Is that even possible? I mean, her mother is dead… but surely she would have made herself known earlier if she could. And surely there are more direct ways to contact Mai than talking to a microphone and hoping she'd hear it…_ Something in Naru's brain clicked.

"Mai, was this voice loud? Or quiet?"

"Quite quiet…" She sniffed, calming down. "I couldn't hear it at first… But the more I listened the more I could hear it."

Naru stood up, then offered a hand to Mai, who rubbed her nose and took it.

"EVP." Naru said automatically.

"Huh?" Mai said, wiping away tear tracks and hoping her face wasn't all pink.

"EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena. Simply put, it's where an audio device picks up a voice that is not heard in real life at the time of recording. It is often believed to be paranormal, but there are many explanations for it that do not include spirits of any sort. That is probably what you heard."

Mai nodded feebly.

"What did it say?"

"She said… she said that… I'm not sure what she said."

He gave her a passing look and made his way over to the monitors.

"Lin, can we clean up the sound?"

"Probably, but it'll take time to transfer the audio."

"Do it."

Lin nodded. Naru turned and leant against the table.

"Now, Mai. Chances are that it wasn't your mother."

"But-"

He held up a hand. "It is a perfectly plausible theory that you heard sounds that your brain instinctively made into words, and interpreted it as your mother's voice. It's strengthened by the fact that you're not even sure if you heard someone saying anything intelligent."

She looked down. He was right, really. But it'd sounded so similar…

Naru considered his options. "Mai, go and take a walk."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Why?"

"You've upset yourself. Take a walk and calm down."

"I'm fine."

"Take a walk Mai." He demanded coldly.

"Fine then." She retorted bitterly and left.

* * *

"Mai-chan! Mai-chan!"

"Hm?" She turned. Chihiro came running, without a Bleach get up.

"I wanted to give you something!"

"You did?"

Chihiro nodded. "Yup! Here."

She passed a small doll to Mai. It was old, dusty, and Mai had no idea what it was meant to be of.

"Thank you. But… er… what is it meant to be of?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Grandma gave it to me years ago, before she died. She said it was from a dead man, so I thought it might interest you or your boss."

Mai nodded. "Oh! That was very thoughtful of you. Thanks."

"Don't worry! I don't like it much. Too… y'know."

Mai didn't know, but she didn't press matters.

"So show it to Shibuya-san, okay? Please."

"Er, sure."

"Thanks! You're, like, the coolest person I've ever met! Except for Hitsugaya-taicho…" She added as an afterthought.

She ran off, leaving a bemused Mai holding the fabric doll.

"I'm sorry about her."

She twisted round. A middle aged man was standing there, watching her. Jukodo Denjiro.

"Pardon?"

"I'm sorry if she… gets clingy to you or irritates you. She doesn't mean it. It's just that… ever since Nao died…"

"I understand. It's fine."

"And if she talks about Bleach, could you just please pretend to be interested? She has an addictive personality and…"

She bowed. "Jukodo-san, I don't mind, honest. I've lost a parent myself so I know how it feels."

"You have? I'm sorry for your loss…"

She nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry but Shibuya-san's waiting for me, I have to go."

He nodded distractedly and she ran off.

"Naru! Naru!"

"-What Mai?"

"Look what Chihiro gave me!" She showed him the doll.

"It's just a doll, Mai."

"She said that her grandmother gave it to her. And apparently it's from a dead man!"

He took the doll, frowning, and turned it over in his hand. "Is it…?" He wondered.

"Well, that's what she said. Or her grandmother said."

He put it down on the desk. "It's getting late."

* * *

"Do you think it'll work?" Mai asked, stretching her arms above her head. "Do you think it's one of them?"

"It's possible." Naru replied. They had done the test on the family. Now all they had to do was wait for the morning and see what it would bring.

The morning would bring many things.

Blood.

Tears.

Developments.

* * *

"_They're coming for you."_

"_I know."_

"_They won't rest until you're dead."_

_He hesitated. "I know."_

"_I'll miss you."_

_He smiled sadly. "I know too. If, I do… die…"_

_She raised a hand to wipe away a tear. "Don't say that."_

"_It's true. I don't understand why-"_

"_There isn't a reason!" She cried. "They're just ignorant… people fear what they don't know, can't explain."_

_He smiled sadly again. "Except you. I don't get it. I was born this way _(Just a bit of Gaga… XD)_, it's part of me. Why don't they get it? I don't mean any harm!" He flung his arm out angrily, and the woman ran forward to restrain him._

"_I know, I know…"_

"_Why must I die for my gift?"_

"_You need to go. They're coming…"_

"_I love you. Whatever happens, I love you."_

_She planted a quick kiss on his lips. "I love you too. No matter what they say…"_

_He nodded as she drew away._

* * *

Mai woke up to screams. It took her a second to get her brain in gear.

"Masako!" She shouted. Her bed empty, Ayako was getting up, in a similar state to her.

Mai ran out, to the direction of the screams. "Masako, where are you?" Mai yelled.

"Help!" Outside. Mai ran again. She was by the front door, ready to open it, when there was a sickening thud and crack. She froze for a second, before Masako screamed louder than before. Mai flung open the door.

Masako was lying on the ground, her kimono dirtying with damp earth.

"Masako, are you okay? Answer me!" Mai knelt down by her, trying to see any injuries. She had a a nasty cut or graze on her cheek bone. Blood seeped through the kimono, and tears were streaming down her face.

"Mai! Help me! It hurts!" She broke into a fresh set of tears. Mai panicked. She didn't know what to do.

"Masako, what is it?" A new voice, Ayako. Mai turned.

"I don't know what's wrong! I don't know what to do!"

Ayako knelt by Masako, next to Mai. "Masako, where does it hurt?"

"He, he, was there…"

Ayako gingerly lifted the hem of the kimono up. Mai gasped and looked away.

"Call and ambulance! Now!" Mai nodded and got up, almost running into the others, whose bedrooms were further away than the girls'.

* * *

John went with Masako to the hospital. They weren't sure what had happened, but Masako had broken her leg and cut it badly. Ayako went inside to wash her hands. Bou-san patted Mai's shoulder awkwardly.

"She's fine Jou-chan."

"I know… but, eurgh… there was so much blood…"

He nodded sympathetically.

"And it must have hurt so much…"

"Don't think about it. You should get some sleep."

"I'm not tired."

He sighed. "No, I guess you wouldn't, after all that. Masako can really scream."

She frowned and pouted. "Don't be nasty."

"I'm not. Come in, it's chilly." She gladly stepped inside to the basking warmth of inside the house, rubbing her arms furiously. Naru gave her an odd look. She ignored him.

"What are we going to do without a medium?" Ayako asked.

Naru shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll cope. Hara-san will probably not be in hospital for very long anyway, and she already told us what she senses around the house."

"But John's gone with her…"

"And?" Naru questioned. It wasn't like he was staying there forever. "It's early. Let's go back to bed."

Mai spoke uncertainly. "But I'm not tired."

"Go to bed."

"I'm not sleepy."

"Go to bed."

She made a face at him before huffing her disapproval. "Says the insomniac."

He frowned minutely. "I am not an insomniac."

"Yeah, yeah, that's you drink so much tea."

"I don't drink that much tea Mai, you're exaggerating."

She stuck her tongue out at him before turning and skipping back to her bedroom.

"Gah! He's so annoying!" Mai complained to Ayako while slipping back into her bed.

"Who, Naru?"

"Who else would I be talking about?"

* * *

It was only a few hours later when Mai entered base, stretching as she did so. She'd barely slept, unlike Ayako, who slept like the dead and had been snoring slightly when Mai had left. Lin was standing over the sofa, but because the sofa's back was to the door she couldn't see what was on it He barely gave her a passing glance.

"Taniyama-san, could you go and get a class of water please?" He asked.

"Um, sure. Why?"

"Just do it please."

Curious and slightly suspicious, she nodded and left, returning a few minutes later with a glass which she was carefully holding so that she didn't spill any water.

"Here you go Lin-san." She said, but he was hardly paying attention to her. She made her way round to the other side of the sofa. Her eyes widened slightly.

* * *

He could feel his blood pounding, hear his heart pumping as he ran on. He couldn't slow down, couldn't stop, but his legs were starting to feel like string and there was stabbing pain in his chest. He half stumbled on a tree root and his hand shot out automatically for balance, grazing the skin painfully against the rough bark of a tree. His legs crumpled beneath him and he was panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath again.

No, he couldn't be resting, he didn't have time. He had to get away from the danger. He closed his eyes for one blissful second. An image of Hisoka wavered into view. Hisoka. Think of Hisoka, with her sweet smiles and bright laugh. He had to see her again. She'd already lost one parent. She couldn't lose both.

He forced his shaking legs to support his aching body, using the tree to support himself, leaving smears of blood. He heard a twig break, only a few metres behind him. Shit. It was here. He had to move!

But his body was paralyzed, frozen stiff. His legs refused to budge, let alone run. He heard another footstep, this time closer. He tried to will his body to move, but it stayed stubborn however hard he tried.

He could sense its presence, behind him. He couldn't even move his neck to look at it. He couldn't even open his mouth to scream.

A cold arm wrapped around his shoulders and jerked him back as he felt the cold metal of a blade slide into his flesh. He sank down, back to his knees, out of the cold grasp. The pain was a freezing fire, spreading from his back as he felt hot, sticky blood gush out from the wound. He was dying. He could practically taste the death on his tongue.

Dead eyes stared at the bloody foliage.

* * *

**Oh mi gosh computer, why you so slow? **

**Yeah, sorry if this chapter isn't very realistic...**


	71. 11 Patience part 4

Patience, Part 4

Marks and Bruises

If it was a poltergeist, it wasn't one of the family, as the small vase was still within the chalk circle on the table in the living room when they went to check. Mai sighed tiredly. Another vengeful ghost…

"Mai, tea." Naru snapped. He was in a foul mood. She gave him an odd look, but went without saying anything. Lin also gave Naru an odd look, which was purposefully ignored.

Mai went down to the kitchen, thoughtful. Chihiro was there.

"Mai! Mai! Mai! Mai!" She yipped.

"Hm? Chihiro? How are you?"

"I'm well. Did you like the doll? Did your boss like it?" Chihiro resembled a small excited puppy.

"Um, yeah. It was really helpful. Thanks Chihiro."

"Really?" Chihiro asked, hyper. "I'm so glad!"

"…" Mai wasn't sure what to say in this situation.

Chihiro gave her a calculating look. "You know… I think… Oh, I don't know…"

"Don't know what?"

"I'm trying to work out which Bleach character you're most like."

"Oh. Um…"

"At first I thought Hisagi, but I think you might be Kira…"

"Kira?" Mai asked. "I thought that was Death Note."

"No!" Chihiro protested loudly. "Kira's a character in Bleach. The vice-captain of Squad 3… Gin's lieutenant. What about Hinamori? Oohh, I don't know…" She said the last sentence almost as if not knowing was actually causing her physical pain.

"Um, Chihiro, I have to get tea for Na- Shibuya-san, so…"

"Oh! I can do it for you if you want!"

"No, it's fine-"

"But you must work so hard! I can do it, honest!"

"I don't doubt you-"

"Please! Plleeeaaassseeeee…" Chihiro tried to do cute puppy eyes and failed.

"No, it is my job and I don't want to incon-"

"Fine then!" Chihiro snapped, practically in tears, running from the room. Mai froze. Tea or Chihiro?

Nah, screw Naru. She'd just upset Chihiro, so she made to go after her. The door slammed in her face. The cupboard doors opened and shut. The knives in the stand rattled. The fridge freezer shook. Mai backed up against the door, eyeing the knives nervously. Suddenly the door opened behind her and she fell down. She looked up into Bou-san's face, and quickly made sure her skirt hadn't flipped up or anything.

"Er, Mai-chan?"

Mai sat up and coughed, noticing that the kitchen was back to normal.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"Er, I was leaning against the door, so when you opened it…" She hinted, accepting his hand and getting up.

"Why were you leaning against it?"

"Everything was rattling, even the fridge…"

"Oh. Worst place in the house to get attacked." Bou-san said.

"Yeah. Or maybe the bathroom…"

"People don't keep knives in the bathroom."

"That wasn't what I meant."

* * *

Mai tossed and turned in her bed painfully.

It'd started out as a simple tummy ache, a small one that she'd ignored. But then it'd just grown and grown and she was actually writhing in agony, trying to find a position that wouldn't hurt so much, but it hurt however hard she tried. She knew that the pain was preventing her from sleeping.

Eventually, she sat up, gasping, and crawled out of bed, barely able to walk. She cradled her stomach, and set out for the bathroom, scraping against the wall for support. She panted out with relief when she saw the bathroom door and curled up next to the toilet, whimpering. It was the most pain she'd ever gone through in her life.

She rested her head on the toilet seat, not caring if it was unhygienic. "Please…" She managed to pant out. She wanted to vomit like it'd save her life. If she vomited, then the pain would subdue for a bit…

She barely registered her name being called, but she was aware when he next spoke, crouching down next to her.

"Oh, god. Mai?"

She automatically wrapped her arms around him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Please, just make the pain go away! Please!" She cried, burying her face into his shoulder. Naru always made everything better. He always put things right.

Naru barely contained the wince when he felt Mai's finger nails scrape his skin through his shirt and dig into his back as she practically sobbed into his shoulder. He didn't know what to do. He didn't even know why she was in pain, but it was evident that she was in quite a lot of pain.

Suddenly she blanched, and moved back to the toilet, vomiting at last. Naru rubbed her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. When she'd finished she moaned and got up to rinse her mouth out, before curling up again, feeling relief when the pain subdued a little bit.

Silently Naru reached out and flushed the toilet, closing the lid.

He turned his attention back to Mai when she moaned. She spasmed in pain, clutching at her stomach again as the pain returned again, just as strongly as before she'd vomited. She flung herself – literally – at him again, her arms squeezing him so tight that he was sure that he was going to have a selection of bruises the next morning. She unconsciously dug her nails into him again as she writhed in agony again. "Please… Just make it go away!"

It was pitiful; it really was, to see the normally bright and chirpy Mai writhing in agony on the bathroom floor.

"You should probably go back to your bed." Naru said.

"No…" Mai said, as a small part of her brain that was wonderfully clear and un-hazed by the pain was enjoying hugging Naru like he was a plushie. He probably wasn't enjoying it though…

Naru slowly stood up, dragging Mai up with him. She whimpered as she was forced to slowly straighten out, causing the pain to seemingly somehow intensify. She pushed Naru back down and curled up, all the time never relinquishing her grip on him. Naru gasped as his sore shoulder collided with the hard floor and it felt like he was squishing Mai's arms, but Mai apparently didn't notice either fact.

"Mai, you are going back to bed _now_." Naru said through clenched teeth.

"…Hurts…" Mai mumbled. The rest of her sentence was inaudible.

"Lying on the bathroom floor is _not_ an option."

"Don't care." She groaned.

Naru sighed and closed his eyes. This girl was going to drive him crazy one day, he knew it.

"Your bed is going to much comfier than I am."

The clear part of Mai's mind disagreed.

"Can't walk…"

"Can you crawl?" Naru asked. He hated this situation, and wanted it to be over. Especially if Mai insisted on not moving, and he ended up sleeping in the middle of the bathroom floor with a not with it Mai.

"Don't wanna movee…"

He thought of all the ways he could move her to her bed. Slinging her over his shoulder was a no-no – it would hurt her stomach and probably kill his shoulder. Carrying her 'bridal style' was another no-no. He wanted an intact back. Piggyback – enough said.

"Right. Mai, if you let go of me, I will go and get some painkillers. After you've taken painkillers, I will help you walk you to your room, and then I'll wake Matsuzaki-san up and she can tend to you."

Obviously, the obvious solution which was to go and wake Matsuzaki-san, now, and let her do whatever Mai wanted her to do and go to bed and get some much wanted sleep.

He paused. Even Mai could probably see that that was the most obvious and logical option.

"Actually, leaving you alone could potentially be dangerous. I will help walk you to your bedroom, and then I'll wake Matusuzaki-san. Okay?"

He gently prised her arms from him enough so that he could move and tried standing up again, taking Mai's height into consideration and staying bent enough so that she didn't have to fully straighten out. He tried taking one step, and she meekly followed, albeit with various sounds of pain. As he was supporting most of her weight, by the time they actually got to the girl's bedroom the majority of his body from the waist up was aching from this annoyingly long and arduous journey.

But, eventually, Mai was safely deposited in her bed, where she immediately curled up, only her head sticking out from the covers. He sighed and went over to Ayako's bed, soon waking her up and it wasn't long before Ayako was silently fussing over Mai, pressing a hand to her forehead. Unnoticed, he left the room.

When he got to his room he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose agitatedly. He caught sight of the mirror and paused. He gave another sigh and unbuttoned his shirt, shrugging his shoulders out of it and turning his back to the mirror, looking over his shoulder.

Yep. Sure enough, there were several red dents and lines on his back from Mai's fingernails (how long were they, anyway?). His eye automatically dragged down to his lower back, remembering the cold blade sinking into his back, but he couldn't see that far down away without a proper full length mirror. He shrugged his shoulders back into his shirt again and shook his head. Lack of sleep must be getting to him.

There wouldn't be a mark, anyway, so why look to see if there was one?

* * *

**Bloop.**

**Erm, thanks for all the lovely reviews! Please review :)**


	72. 11 Patience part 5

Patience, Part 5

Silliness

When Mai awoke, there was a slight throbbing in her head and a general feel of achiness, but otherwise she felt perfectly fine.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?" Ayako asked.

Mai frowned. "Fine…" Her mind ran over what had happened last night. Suddenly, she moaned and buried her head underneath the covers.

"What is it?" Ayako asked urgently, worried that Mai's pains had returned.

"Naru…"

Ayako frowned. "What about him?"

"He saw me vomiting…" Mai's head re-emerged. "And… Oh, god… I'm so embarrassed."

"It's not that bad." Ayako comforted.

"It is! Imagine the guy _you_ liked saw you in one of most embarrassing positions you've ever been in!" Mai could hardly imagine Naru seeing her vomiting and writhing on the bathroom floor in her pyjamas would really help his opinion of her.

"Don't worry Mai. Honestly. Anyway, I think he was more occupied with why you were in pain rather than what you looked like."

Mai didn't look so convinced, but dropped it.

"If you're tired then you should go back to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

Mai frowned. "But- Naru- I hav-"

"Don't worry. Naru gave me orders to let you rest for as long as you need to today."

"What?"

"Well, he didn't word it _quite_ like that but that's basically what he said."

"Oh." Mai brightened up. "That was nice of him." She snuggled into the warm covers. Ayako ruffled her hair affectionately.

"It was. Do you want anything?"

Mai shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I think I'll try and go to sleep again."

"Good girl." Ayako smiled slightly, and moved away, out of Mai's vision.

* * *

It was a few hours later when Mai finally joined everyone else in base.

"Mai!" Bou-san cried, smothering her in a bear hug. "You're with us? How do you feel?"

"Bou-san! I can't breathe!" She protested loudly, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. "Let me go, you old pervert!"

"Pervert? Me? Jou-chan, how could you?" Bou-san exclaimed in mock horror and anguish, letting her go and flicking her on the forehead.

"Ow!" Mai grasped her forehead. "Bou-san!"

"I was worried about you, and this is how you thank me." He frowned in mock reproach.

"I'm glad you're better," John said quietly.

"Thanks John." Mai smiled.

They were interrupted by a quiet cough promising doom on all who didn't shut up that instant. They shut up.

"We have work to do." He ignored a loud groan from Monk, and gave them all tasks to do. "Mai, come here."

Mai waited anxiously as everyone else left base – even Lin, who hadn't been given anything to do but had excused himself quietly. Naru gestured her to come closer so she did.

"What is it?" Mai asked, hoping he didn't ask for tea.

He handed her a pair of headphones. "Here's the EVP footage. Neither Lin nor I have listened to it yet."

"Oh." She accepted the headphones. "Thanks." She put them on, and nodded for him to play it. She frowned as she heard the jarbled speech.

"Is there anything?"

"Play it again. It sounds distorted." He did so, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. Then she took the headphones off. "No. It's just a lot of mumbo jumbo." She lied. "Not even words."

"Should I have a listen?"

"No!" She said, almost too quickly. "Delete it. It's not going to help us."

He watched her closely for a few seconds, then shrugged slightly. "Fine." She handed the headphones back and he dumped them on the table.

"Um, last night…" Mai started, blushing slightly.

"Hmm?"

"… Thanks. For, you know, everything. It was really nice of you."

"I can't have my assistant off ill and causing a nuisance."

"But still…"

"Go and help Takigawa-san take temperature readings, Mai. He's almost as clumsy as you." Naru deadpanned.

She huffed for show, and made her way to leave. Then she paused.

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?" She asked.

"Don't worry. Lin will come in when you leave."

"Lin? You mean he's…" Mai trailed off.

"He's not eavesdropping, probably, but he's almost certainly lurking about, waiting for you to leave before he comes in again."

"Oh." Mai said.

"A word of advice before you leave. Cut your nails Mai, you could gouge someone's eye out with them."

She blushed.

Then, feeling suddenly emboldened despite the EVP footage, she leaned forward, kissed him on the cheek, then ran out before Naru could question her.

Outside, she ran until she was far away enough from base, then wilted in the corridor.

Why on earth had she done that? She'd kissed his cheek! Alright, it was meant to be an 'I do actually like you, and thanks for being nice to me last night' but this was Naru!

Damn her impulsiveness.

She blushed on top of her blush, then firmly decided to put it out of her mind. Now, where was Monk?

* * *

Lin was normally a completely silent man. Talking was not his strong point. He normally left it to other people to do any conversing needed, namely Madoka, Mai or Luella. This left him free to get on with his responsibilities. But sometimes extraordinary circumstances can cause us to do feats normally beyond our capabilities. This was one such circumstance.

"Noll, are you ok?"

Silence. Something definitely was 'up' as the colloquial term went. Noll was sitting holding an article and for all appearances reading it intently. The pretence was excellent, except he wasn't turning the pages. Now, he could be thinking deeply, but his eyes seemed vacant.

He coughed.

Naru almost jumped. He looked up, and realised Lin was there.

"Noll, are you okay?" Lin repeated.

"Yes, I'm fine." Naru said, rubbing his cheek. Lin didn't look so convinced, but dropped it – there were times when not even Mai could get an answer out of Noll, and he figured now was one of them.

* * *

"So, this room is-"

"Don't drop it!"

"I wasn't going to!"

"You so were."

"Yasu, shut up."

"But, Bou-san, you did almost drop it…"

"That applies to you too Mai."

Mai huffed. Yasuhara was grinning.

"So, what's the temperature?"

"24 Celsius."

Mai scribbled the number down.

"Are you alright Yasu?"

"I'm fine…" He wheezed. "Bou-san just elbowed me, that's all…"

"Bou-san!"

"What?"

"That wasn't very nice!"

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Bou-san declared, feigning innocence.

Mai put on her not-very-impressed face. "God, you two are like small children."

"Says you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothin'."

"C'mon. Let's go back to base."

"Sure."

They set off.

"So, Mai…"

"What?" She recognised that tone. He was going to ask her a question that was going to make things really really really awkward, she knew it.

"Why did Naru-bou want you?"

"What? Oh, he asked me about some audio footage I heard."

"Audio footage?"

"Um, yeah. Nothing particularly exciting or dramatic."

"Asking a girl to listen to audio footage is probably Naru's way of hitting on her." Yasuhara said knowingly. Bou-san nodded in agreement. "Are you sure you were just listening to audio footage?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Naru was _not_ 'hitting on me'!"

"He doesn't really need to flirt with you though, you already fancy him."

"He was _not_ flirting!"

"Sure?"

"Yes!"

"Excuse me…" A small voice broke their argument/energetic discussion. They stopped and turned. Chihiro stood awkwardly in a doorway, fiddling with the hem of her haori. "Could I talk to Mai please?"

"Sure." Mai said. She turned to Yasuhara and Monk. "You go on without me." The duo nodded and carried on, leaving Mai alone with Chihiro. "So… what did you want to talk to me about?"

Chihiro took her hand nervously and led her through the doorway, into what Mai realised must be her room.

Posters covered the walls – a few Pokemon, but most of Bleach characters, most of them of or at least containing one white haired male with turquoise eyes. Where there weren't posters there were book shelves, hosting books, manga, video games… Half the bed was covered with plushies of Bleach characters (and a few Pokemon). It took Mai's eyes a second or two to absorb all of it.

"I'm so sorry I snapped at you yesterday!" Chihiro wailed.

"Oh no, it's okay!" Mai said suddenly, caught somewhat by surprise.

"I didn't mean to make you angry or anything… I swear!"

"I wasn't angry, Chihiro, honest!"

"Really?" Chihiro sniffed.

"Yeah." Mai smiled warmly at her.

"You're so nice!" She squealed, embracing Mai in a bear hug, which almost knocked Mai over. "I wish I was like you!"

"Err…"

"Do you like my room?"

"Yes. It's very nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Yay!" Chihiro sat down on her bed with a large oof, narrowly missing Pikachu's head. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind what?"

"Me talking to you, of course!" She fiddled with another plushie.

"No, of course I don't mind." Mai smiled warmly at Chihiro, who beamed back.

"So, you fancy Shibuya-san?" She gave Mai a wide eyed look, as though this was incredibly brave but incredibly strange.

Mai mentally cursed Yasuhara and Monk.

"Please don't tell him." It was too late to deny anything.

"I won't."

"Thanks."

* * *

Mai hummed as she lightly walked down the corridor. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she say a flicker, and the hum died in her throat. From being happy and light hearted she became suddenly painfully aware of just how empty the corridor was, and just how much of a perfect target she made alone. She paused, but nothing seemed to happen. She shrugged, probably just nothing… On the other hand it could be something (she remembered, blushing, the several occasions in the past where 'nothing' had quickly become 'something very bad', and someone had come and rescued her. Usually Naru, come to think of it), so she should probably hurry back to base just to make sure.

She was sure that had been a faint sigh…Yes, there it was again.

"H-hello?" She called out nervously. Her basic instincts were telling her that it probably wasn't the best idea to hang around here much longer. She started to run.

* * *

**My space button is't working properly. And it's been stucklike that for days now. It's so annoying.**

**Thanks for all the nice reviews! :3**

**I don't think I like this chaptermuch...**

**And Chihiro'sroomislike the room I never had ;_; I saw a Hichigo plushie once in a shop in London and I was all 'I WANT' but they are so expensive. Like 40 quid. And,speaking ofposters, I need to take down my 2011 wallchart... But I haven't got a poster ****replace it.**

**Pleasereview!**


	73. 11 Patience part 6

Patience, Part 6

Attacking

The scream broke through the chatter. There was silence for a moment afterwards as 6 heads turned in the direction of the noise.

"Mai!" Monk bellowed. Yasuhara dropped the clipboard. They sprinted to the door, where Monk collided with Ayako.

"Watch where you're going!" She shouted at him, and then groaned. "That really _hurt_."

"Sorry."Monk helped her up. They hurried after Yasuhara. They skidded round a corner and Monk and Yasu stopped.

"Holy-" Yasuhara murmured. There was blood, and lots of it. And Mai was in the middle of it all, clutching her arm. Lin's shiki were just melting away.

Ayako crouched down by Naru and Lin.

"Bou-san, go fetch the first aid kit, and Yasu get some lukewarm water and a towel." She ordered. She reached out and smoothed back Mai's hair.

"There's so much blood… When I dodged I thought, I thought he just managed to hit me…" She started shaking.

"Shhh Mai, it's ok. Bou-san will be here in a mo."

"It hurts."

"I know, I know." She paused. "Bou-san just ran into me, the idiot. That hurt. He weighs so much." She shook her head in disdain. Mai managed a small smile.

"Did you hit him?"

"No, but I will later. Thanks for reminding me," The redhead's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Someone mention me?" Monk appeared in Mai's vision. Ayako grabbed the pack and started rummaging around.

"Just saying how much we love you." Ayako muttered under her breath.

"Well what can I say?" Yasuhara chirped. Ayako rolled her eyes.

"Not you."

"Ohh, Bou-san of course. Trying to steal my lover away with your feminine charms?" He glared at her while latching onto Monk's arm protectively.

"Yasu, I need to concentrate."

"Ah, so you don't deny it!"

"Yasuahara!"

"Ok, ok, I'm going."

Ayako dipped the towel in the water and gently washed away the blood from Mai's forearm. Mai winced, as did Naru. Ayako paused for a moment. That was when she noticed Mai's hand gripping Naru's so hard her knuckles were white. She looked at Naru, but he didn't say anything, so neither did she.

After she finished washing she applied a dressing and bandaged the cut. It was quite deep, and seemed to be bleeding a lot for its size. She studied the other. It was on her side, but wasn't bleeding anywhere near as much. She gingerly lifted the edge of her top slightly.

"I liked this top too." Mai said forlornly.

"I think it has to go in the bin."

"I know."

"This needs stitches as well, but I think I'll wait an hour or so for the bleeding to slow. Ok?"

Mai nodded. Ayako pressed another dressing to her skin.

"We'll go and wash you. Come on." Slowly she helped Mai up. They walked to her room.

"You can let go now." She said gently. Mai nodded and blushed slightly.

* * *

"Here you go." Monk handed Ayako a steaming mug before flopping onto the sofa next to her.

"Bou-san! You almost made me spill my drink." She complained. He grinned.

"Sorry."

"You could at least try to look upset." She sipped the tea before warming her hands on the mug.

"Who's with her?"

"John at the moment. She's asleep. Actually I think she's in shock slightly."

"Well she was just attacked. Pretty badly."

"It's the first time she's been attacked and Naru wasn't there. Or someone. I think it just registered."

"Well there was that time at that school…"

"Ok, but apart from that. Anyway it wasn't a knife wielding ghost out for her blood that time."

"True."

She put down her mug and looked at him. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. I was stressed and I know it wasn't your fault-"

"Ayako, I know."

"Ok."

Impulsively she wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her head on his shoulder.

* * *

"Now Mai, you're going to hate me for this, but you are not going anywhere alone."

"But Naru, I'm perfectly fine-" She pouted. She knew he was right, but she hated being babied and she also didn't want to give in without a fight.

"Mai, a ghost tried to stab you."

"He only hit my arm-"

"He was aiming for your torso."

"Alright, alright." She grumbled. "A mad ghost tried to kill me. It's happened before."

"Doesn't mean you should take it lightly."

"Oh yeah, says you."

"Mai."

"Seriously, Naru, you end up injured just as much as I do."

"I take necessary precaution, which you fail to do so."

"And almost killing yourself is 'necessary precaution'?"

"Mai, I only use PK when it's necessary." (AN: )

"It's not necessary if you almost die!" Mai snapped. "If anything _you_ should always be with someone because you can't defend yourself, not because you don't have any defence but because your defence practically kills you!"

"Mai this is not about me, this is about you." He said patiently, as though explaining a difficult concept to a child. Mai crossed her arms.

"I don't care, if I'm not allowed anywhere by myself, then neither are you."

"I'm not the one who lures trouble and malicious entities."

"Listen, just because-" She froze suddenly, eyes wide as something she'd never registered before suddenly reared its head.

"What?" He asked, hoping it wasn't something really bad, like 'a-ghost's-just-grabbed-my-ankle'. Though considering the environs and the room temperature, this was unlikely.

"Naru," She said quietly, almost whispering. "Why does no one visit you whenever you end up in hospital?"

My family doesn't live in Japan. That would be the obvious answer. It didn't give too much away; there are hundreds of other countries in the world. Plus if you took into consideration his blue eyes, most people must have realised that he's not entirely Japanese, at the least.

Mai stared at him. He was silent. What had she done? Maybe his parents didn't love him! Maybe it upset him. What if his parents were always too busy for him? Maybe that was why he was such a workaholic and didn't open up! Was workaholicness genetic?

"My parents don't live in this country." He looked away, signalling that he didn't want to talk about it.

"But you were seriously injured!"Mai protested. Surely if they loved him they would visit. Then she covered her mouth and blushed with embarrassment.

"But they knew I was fine." That sort of made sense. Naru wouldn't want anyone coming to fuss over him when he thought it was unnecessary.

Mai paused. She was full of questions, but he clearly wanted her to change the subject. Where did Naru live? With relatives? If he had any siblings, were they in Japan too? How long had he lived in Japan? Why was he even here? There must be plenty of ghosts in other countries. Or had his parents moved? But why?

She was curious. Naru could see that. But she probably wouldn't ask any more questions. Knowing her she'd probably made him an object of sympathy, thinking he was unloved or something. Maybe even abused. She was prone to being fanciful. However he would have to be careful. She may start snooping, and he definitely did not need to face a Mai who would definitely be very angry at him if she found out… No, _when_ she found out.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Ayako's head popped round the door.

"Just checking if Mai wanted anything, we're about to go make tea..."

"Tea please."

"Naru?"

"Nothing."

Ayako nodded and left the room. On the other side of the door 2 pairs of eyes looked at her quizzically. Ayako gestured with her fingers. Monk and Yasuhara followed her.

"Well?"

"I definitely interrupted something."

"Was there are atmosphere?" Yasuhara winked.

"Yes, but not a romantic one…"

"Oh, why did they have to drop their voices at that point? It's almost like they knew we were there."

"If Naru knew he would have said something. Mai trusts us more." Monk pointed out.

"Now I have to go make tea." Ayako said grumpily.

* * *

"Ahem." Naru coughed slightly and silence fell on the assembled members of SPR. "Previously we assumed the ghost was that of Nao, as the activity started at the time she died. Aside from the fact that we can't identify a reason for her causing such violent activity, this house has had previous problems with a ghost. So the ghost seems to be using Nao as a cover."

"So who's the real ghost?" Monk asked.

"We don't know. Yasuhara and I have done research, but the records are difficult to find. It seems that spiritual activity has been happening on and off for hundreds of years. That explains how the ghost is so strong, whereas Nao would be a weak ghost. As far as we know, though, the activity starts, after a period of time a group of ghost hunters or spiritualists is called to the house, and then one in that group would die. After that the activity would stop. The alive group members would leave, and all would be peaceful for a few years at least… Then the process would repeat."

There was a sober silence.

"So… we need to get this over with asap?" Yasuhara asked.

"Yes. He's already targeted Hara-san and Mai. Everybody must make sure they're with somebody else at all times."

The group nodded.

"Also due to the number of irrelevant sources, all of you will be required to do some research work."

There was a communal groan.

"As we have no time to waste, we will start immediately."

"Uh, I had a dream." Mai volunteered sheepishly.

"Mai…Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" There was a note of despair in Naru's voice.

"Well I wasn't sure it was related, normally I'm either in the dream, or if I'm not…" She hesitated. She could hardly say that Naru was there with her while she watched. "If I'm not there's this presence with me. But this one wasn't like that. And it was the night Masako…"

"Well what was it?"

"There was man, and a woman. And they were saying goodbye to each other. I think he was being hunted, because of his 'gift'. They didn't say what it was, but he was different in some way. And the other people didn't like it."

"Anything else?"

"They killed him. She said they wouldn't rest until he died."

Naru nodded thoughtfully.

"I organised a pile for each of you. Sorry they're different amounts, but I know some of you won't work-" He glared meaningfully at Mai and Monk, "So I gave you more! To make up for all that work you should have done on other cases." Yasuhara finished cheerfully.

Mai and Monk complained bitterly as huge wads of paper was thrust into their hands.

* * *

**What do I write here? :( **

**This chapter is, I hope, more exciting than the last one :P**

**My sister pointed out that Gene hasn't been in this recently... And I was all "... Ohhhh yeeahhh, forgot about him..." D: **

**Please review :3  
**


	74. 11 Patience part 7

Patience, Part 7

Water and Blood

"_Do it again." The woman pleaded, smiling prettily. Mai recognised the man and woman as the couple from her previous dream, but this dream was more peaceful. _

_The man closed his eyes, a smirk twitching his lips upwards._

"_What if I don't want to?"_

"_Please do it again." The woman implored. _

"_And if I don't?"_

"_I'll never kiss you again." She said with mock seriousness. _

_The man shrugged, smiling. "I have to give in then, don't I?"_

_The woman squealed as he pulled her into his lap. _

"_Sing." He commanded softly, his breath tickling her hair. She smiled and complied, singing an old song softly._

_A chair on the other side of the room slowly dragged itself to the middle of the room, and then titled up so it was balancing on one leg. It then proceeded to 'dance' sluggishly, hopping and spinning in time to the woman's tune. _

_However, the song didn't last very long, and when she stopped singing the chair fell back onto all four legs and remained still._

"_Doesn't it tire you?" She asked softly. _

"_Yes." The man said wearily, his eyelids drooping slightly. "Let's go to bed."_

"_But it's the middle of the day!"_

"_Come on." He stood up and took her hand, leading her out of the room._

_Mai looked down when a hand took her own. _

_Dream Naru smiled at her._

"_Long time no see."_

_She smiled back. "Yeah." There was a pause. "Why are you showing me this?"_

"_You always ask the wrong questions." He ruffled her hair affectionately. _

_She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Nothing." He grinned, before his expression becoming serious. "Mai you need to be careful here. And remember that you are not the only one in danger."_

"_You mean Masako? But Naru sent her home-"_

"_I don't mean Masako, no."_

"_But then who-"_

"_See you next time."_

_And like that, the dream and Naru faded into grey._

* * *

"He made the chair dance?" John asked, frowning slightly.

"Yeah." Mai took a sip of tea. "But after that the dream ended."

"So he had PK…" John mused, looking out of the window.

Dream Naru's words shot through Mai's mind like a bullet. Her eyes widened. She had to tell Naru!

"Um, Naru." Her fingers intertwined themselves with another. "The ghost is targeting someone else. Someone other than me."

He raised one flawless eyebrow. "You mean Hara-san?"

"No, no." She said hurriedly. "Someone other than Masako and me. Somebody else is in danger."

He observed her interestedly. Mai could tell that he was pondering, trying to work out who else on the team was in danger. Mai found herself doing the same, but she didn't have the information that Naru had and she knew that her chances of finding out who before the ghost made the move and Naru realised, were ant-sized. No, scratch that, atom-sized.

So she resigned herself to her fate and decided to let Naru do the thinking. He'd do a better job than she would. She bit her lip distractedly.

* * *

Naru observed his reflection in the mirror for a few moments. He looked slightly tired. He sighed and ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

Luckily, no one had been attacked yet. But it was only a matter of time before the ghost would seize his chance. How Mai had remained unhurt for 24 hours was a mystery, that girl was a magnet for trouble. Not only ghosts targeted her, but people too – she had a talent for drawing people in. Not to mention she often hurt herself. He shook his head, marvelling at the idiocy of his young assistant.

Behind him the taps in the bath turned on. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.

He was alone in the bathroom, the taps had turned on and he was sure the temperature had dropped.

He turned, expression empty, eyes focusing on everything in the room. The taps continued running innocently.

He stayed still for several moments, bracing himself for something to happen.

But nothing did. His eyes narrowed, and he cautiously moved over to the tub. Finally deciding to turn off the taps before the Jukodos worked up a substantial water bill and the bathroom flooded.

He was bending forward to do so when he felt a presence behind him and he had just enough time to decide that _he_ was the other person being targeted by the ghost when there was a sudden pain in his head and his world became black.

* * *

Someone was yelling at him, but his head felt heavy and fuzzy – unusually so. His eyelids felt heavy too, so he couldn't open them. He tried to make out what the voices were saying, was that something about breathing…?

Something was putting pressure on his chest, making his ribs ache.

He took a deep breath; it felt like his airways were on fire, before coughing violently. He could hear a sigh of relief from someone.

Then-

"He's breathing!" A male voice said, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

Naru cracked open an eye. The light was too bright but he could make out three dark shapes hovering above him. It made him intensely aware of a dull pounding in his head. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut.

Then he realised how cold he was. He could feel his body warmth being drawn out by something cold and wet surrounding him.

"His teeth are chattering." The male voice said again. "Hey, maybe you should hug him."

"I am not hugging him!" A female voice said hotly.

"But what about sharing body warmth?"

"Bou-san! Now is not the time for joking!"

"Who said I was joking?

"Taniyama-san, pass the towels."

Then he passed out, only to awake to complete silence. He savoured the silence for a moment, before frowning minutely. Where was he?

* * *

_Mai trudged through the snow, blowing warm breath onto her cold fingers. She'd forgotten her gloves, but she didn't want to run back and get them. That would waste time._

"_Naru?" She called out. No response. She sighed. No-one had seen him since half an hour ago, and she was worried. Even if Naru didn't often tell the others where he was going, Lin often knew, and the fact that he didn't know this time only added to her anxiety. The others told her that he was fine – Naru had done this before on occasions. But Mai still worried. She knew that they were probably right, that she would find Naru fine but annoyed, making some smart-arse remark._

_She looked down the slope, to where she could see the lodge. _

_She hadn't told anyone else that she was looking for him, lest they persuade her not to. She turned and carried on walking, following a set of footprints – she was sure that they were Naru's. Who else would wander up a mountain?_

_Her eyes caught onto something further up – a black mass. Her heart leapt up into her throat, and she swallowed it nervously. That wasn't…_

_She broke into a run. Nononono-_

_She stopped by his crumpled body on the ground, eyes wide. The snow around him was a sickening bright red colour and Mai felt her stomach lurch unpleasantly. _

_She dropped onto her knees next to him, ignoring her disgust as her legs came into the contact with the bloodied snow. The fact that it was _his_ blood made it so much worse._

"_Naru!" She cried, feeling for his shoulder, hoping for a response, even if it was just a ragged intake of breath, but he was as still as a corpse. _

He's not breathing_, she realised with a jolt. She wasn't even sure if there was a pulse – he was cold, but he had been lying in the snow, although with that much blood?_

_So she rolled him over. And then had to swallow her bile down as she came precariously close to vomiting._

"_N-naru?" She asked feebly, hot fat tears starting to roll down her face as it started to sink in. His blue eyes stared up at the sky in blank wonder, his neck sliced open. _

* * *

Monk reversed slowly. The parking space was not so big and he wasn't used to driving the van.

"Naru!" Mai suddenly cried out. Monk hit the brakes, the van lurching to a halt.

"You made me jump." He turned accusingly to Mai, but her eyes were closed. He leaned over and lifted an eyelid. Her eye moved rapidly, focusing on nothing. Deep sleep. Monk shook his head and finished parking. He switched off the engine and rested his palms on the wheel, watching Mai.

"N-naru?" Mai murmured disbelievingly. If she had said it in almost any other way, he could have teased her about it later, but the ways she said it now… It was so sad, feeble.

"Mai?" He asked, worried, tapping her shoulder. It took a few seconds for it to happen, but then her eyelashes fluttered and she woke up, staring up at him wide big brown eyes.

"B-bou-san?" She mumbled sleepily.

"Jou-chan? Are you okay?"

She sat up. "I'm fine…" She rubbed her weary eyes. Although she'd only cried in her dream, it felt like she'd cried in real life. She wanted to go back to sleep, but she was grateful that Bou-san had woken her up.

Bou-san's expression became even more concerned. "You seemed rather upset."

"It was just a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" He echoed.

"Yeah." She looked down.

"What happened?"

"I was walking up some sort of mountain, looking for Naru… I think we were on a case, and he'd walked off or something… And he was just lying on the ground, in the snow... And, and there was so much blood…"

Bou-san hugged her, rubbing her back comfortingly. "It was just a nightmare, Mai. It hasn't happened in real life, and it won't ever happen." His mouth titled upwards faintly. "In fact, speaking of Naru, we're here."

"What time is it?" Mai asked. Had she really slept that long?

"It's almost one."

"One?" Mai squeaked.

"Now come on. You know Naru doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Bou-san.."

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone about my dream? Please?"

"Don't worry Jou-chan, your secret's safe with me!"

Mai nodded and he smiled, patting her head once before opening the door. They walked into the hospital in a thoughtful silence.

As they neared the ward Mai felt her heart rate accelerating. She knew it had been a dream but… Sometimes her dreams meant things. What if this was a dream like that? What if something had happened while they'd been driving?

But then another part of Mai's brain (arguably a more sensible part) pointed out that he was in a hospital, far away from any vengeful ghosts, and anything that happened the doctor's would be able to deal with.

But she couldn't shake off this feeling of nervousness. The dream hadn't been connected to a ghost.

"Mai, are you ok?" Monk paused by the ward entrance.

She nodded, took a deep breath and stepped in.

* * *

**At last. I really wanted to update specifically today, as today's Aftermath's second birthday. It's also Masako's birthday too.**

**Sorry for the long delay. Thank you for all the reviews :hug: I can't wait till this case is over. *Has some stuff planned for the next case***

**Please review!**


	75. 11 Patience part 8

Reality

Naru looked up briefly when Mai and Bou-san entered the room, then turned back to his book, ignoring them.

Mai smiled and let out a sigh she didn't that she'd been holding when she saw that he was okay, the tension in her muscles releasing.

"Yo." Bou-san sat in a chair.

"How're you feeling?" Mai asked.

"Fine." Was the monotonous answer.

Mai nodded eagerly. "So how long are you going to be in for?"

"A few days, for observation."

Mai nodded again, watching him read. Bou-san sent her a sharp look. She blinked at him confused for a few moments before realising that he was telling her that she'd been staring. She blushed and made her way to the chair next to Bou-san.

The minutes dragged by. Mai and Bou-san exchanged a look. They'd come because they'd been concerned about Naru, and he was ignoring them completely. They'd known Naru long enough to know that it wasn't personal, but it was still irking. He made no attempt at starting a conversation.

So when he snapped his book shut, Mai jumped practically five foot in the air.

She blushed beet read when she saw that both males were staring at her, with varying levels of amusement. Bou-san was practically snickering, much to her horror. Naru had a steelily calm expression, but she was sure he found her embarrassing reaction amusing.

"Mai."

"Yes?" She squeaked.

"I need you to do something."

"What?" She asked, eager to help him in any way she could.

"Bou-san, if you could leave please."

Bou-san looked perplexed for a moment, before raising his eyebrows and leaving. Well, if they were going to have alone time or something, he most certainly wasn't going to interfere.

Mai watched Naru with wide eyes. What was going on? What did he want her to do? Why did Bou-san have to leave?

"… Naru?"

"I need you to go back to the house."

She nodded.

"I need you to stay in one spot. Lin will show you where."

She waited for a few moments, waiting for him elaborate. When he didn't, she asked, "… Is that it?"

"Yes. You must not move until Lin confirms that you can."

"Oh." She said, trying not to sound disappointed. He'd even gone to the trouble of asking Bou-san to leave the room and all he wanted to do was ask her to stay in one place?

There was an awkward silence for a while.

Then, "You can leave now if you wish."

"Okay." She said. "Do you want to talk to Bou-san, or?"

He shook his head. Mai nodded, stupidly feeling _more_ disappointed and made her way to the door. She was going to leave when-

"Mai."

"Yes?"

"One more thing. Do _not_ tell Bou-san what I have just asked you to do."

She turned and made eye contact. His eyes were blue, cold, beautiful, but the meaning was clear. _Disobey me and I will be furious._

She nodded again, but more meekly.

"In fact, don't tell _anyone_. Not Matsuzaki-san. Not Yasuhara-san. Not even John. Understand?"

This nod was even more meek. She wasn't in the mood to challenge him – he was clearly irritated, most likely because he was in hospital.

So she left, shutting the door quietly behind her.

He waited a few minutes to make sure that neither she nor Bou-san were coming back, then reached for his phone. He speed dialled a number.

"She agreed to it. Be ready when she gets there." There was a pause. "And make sure nothing happens to her."

* * *

"You still haven't answered my question." Bou-san said accusingly.

"What question?" Mai asked innocently.

"As to why Naru sent me out. Are you _sure_ he didn't do something inappropriate?"

"Yes! Nothing happened. Honestly."

He narrowed his eyes at her accusingly. "If nothing happened then why did he send me out of the room?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Mai countered.

"Because, firstly, he's at the hospital and we're not, and secondly, he's Naru."

"Keep your eyes on the road Bou-san."

"I _am_ keeping my eyes on the road."

"Then focus on it and stop interrogating me."

There was a lull in their bickering. Mai huffed. She had a feeling that she was irritated at Naru and was accidently taking it out on Bou-san. Why did she still work for Naru, anyway?

Minus the fact that she liked her job and he paid her well and that _tiny_, _tiny_ fact that she was crushing on him.

"He just told me work stuff."

"What work stuff? I am working on this case too, y'know."

"Ask Naru. He said I couldn't tell you."

Bou-san stepped on the brakes sharply, the van squeaking. Luckily, they had arrived back at the house, so the sharp breaking was largely unnoticed.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Ask him! Stop taking it out on me!"

"Well then stop giving me Naru-esque answers!"

"I am _n-_ Wait, Naru-esque answers?"

"Yeah, they're like Lin's but more irritating."

"…" She frowned at him.

"…" He frowned back.

"…" She raised an eyebrow.

"…" He shrugged dramatically.

"…" She continued frowning at him.

"Come on, let's get out." He finally said, opening his door and climbing out. She did the same.

"I'm sorry." She said after a few moments. "It's just that you know what Naru's like when he's grumpy."

"I thought you kept saying that he didn't intimate you anymore?"

"Yeah well he still does." Mai grumbled. "Can't help it."

Bou-san chuckled. "Naw, Jou-chan. Does the nasty Naru-bou scare you?"

She pouted. "Quiet you."

"You can tell him many times as you want, he won't." Ayako commented dryly, having joined the duo.

"Excuse me; I think that that was uncalled for." Bou-san said, pretending to be miserable.

"So how is the narcissist?"

"Alive and glaring."

"And scaring Mai-chan."

Mai fixed a glare on him.

"So perfectly fine then."

"Yup."

"Taniyama-san."

Mai suddenly blinked in surprise as the tall figure of Lin loomed in front of them.

"Um, yes?"

"I need you to come with me."

Naru's words flashed in her mind. "Um, ok."

Ayako and Bou-san watched interestedly as Mai followed Lin meekly.

"So what's going on?" Ayako asked, bemused.

Bou-san shrugged. "I dunno. Naru sent me out of the room to talk to her."

She grinned felinely. "He sent you out of the room? Wo-ah. Do you think…?"

He frowned. "Well I'm sure she might have told me. And you know what Mai's like, Naru comes within 5 inches and she blushes bright red…"

* * *

"Here?" Mai asked.

Lin nodded once.

"Can I, er, sit down?"

Another nod. "I can't say how for long you will have to be here."

"Okay."

She sat down on the prickly grass. Lin left promptly and Mai was left alone in the garden. She idly ripped up pieces of grass, although then decided that if she ruined the pristine lawn then the Jukodos would not be very happy with her. She wondered if the father (AN: I can't remember his name and it's nearly 11, okay? I am _tired_) mowed the lawn or if he had a gardener. Although a part of her brain rationalised that there was a good chance that he couldn't afford a gardener, she then realised that none of their clients were exactly… financially needy.

_How much do you think Naru charges them_? She wondered idly. _I mean, Naru pays me full time even though I only do half time work and he probably pays Lin more than me seeing as he actually does full time work… And I basically clean and make beverages. Shibuya is hardly a cheap district and all the equipment must cost loads… _

Her musings were cut off sharply when her arms tingled, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. The air around her became distinctly colder and she stood up, wary and alert. Her fingers automatically started to shift, ready to perform the nine cuts.

There was a man there. Mai turned, the previously absent fear suddenly making an appearance. Her instincts told her one thing – this man – spirit- was ready to harm her. Kill her. Her previous attempt at boldness faltered and she automatically took a step backwards before strengthening her resolve.

His dead eyes watched her with a cold, clinical interest. She recognised him, the man from her dream, and she suddenly made an attempt at conversation.

"They killed you." Were the first words out of her throat. Not the best words, she realised, and she took a brief iota to mentally cringe at her own bluntness. Naru must be rubbing off on her.

"Yes. They killed me." The man took a step forward.

"You don't have t-"

"Oh, but I do."

She shook her head and recalled the man from her dreams – the smiling, cheerful lover. _His death must have really changed him_.

"You're not like this, I _know_ you'r-"

"_You_ have no more right to live than I did."

His words sent a chill running up and down her spine, but she knew she shouldn't show any weakness.

"I have no more right to die than you, and you didn't deserve it."

He took another step forward, she almost took one back.

"Physics. Mediums. PK-users. You're all the same. Why should you live when I couldn't?"

Mai's mouth opened and closed uselessly as she tried to reason but her brain halted. He moved forward and his hands moved up to her neck and she raised her hand to chant but she was going to be too slow and his hands were moving to strangle her-

A bright light moved, and ripped through his fingers, severing the contact he was about to make._ Lin's shiki, _she realised as suddenly a pulse ripped through his body. He yowled in pain, his body heaving, and he looked at her with wide eyes.

"I can't- I can't… They trapped me. You're _bait_."

Another pulse ripped through him and then another, him clenching his teeth before suddenly… he was gone.

A faint breeze suddenly ruffled through her hair, a bird sung in a nearby tree.

Mai's eyes widened slowly as his words diffused through her mind slowly. _You're bait_.

Bait.

She'd been _bait_?!

She turned in anger, and took in the rest of SPR (minus Naru and Masako), watching with various expressions. From the look on their faces, she could tell that they hadn't clicked about it either until the ghost had appeared. Except for Lin, who was regarding her with a calculating expression. She was about to give him a piece of her mind until she realised that he'd been following Naru's orders.

Naru.

That manipulative _bastard_.

He'd used her and she'd fallen head first into the trap.

"So… Case over?" John asked innocently, clearly trying to distract everyone.

"I'm going to _kill_ him." Ayako spoke venomously with narrowed eyes.

"Don't Ayako." Mai said. "I think I have priority."

"I'm sure Shibuya-san made sure-" John tried to interject, but stopped when Mai glared at him.

"I'm sure he didn't care." Mai spat. "I can't wait to get my hands on him."

Lin briefly wondered if he should warn Naru of the incoming danger, but decided against it.

* * *

Mai sat at her desk, staring at the wall straight ahead and swivelling her pen. Her jaw tightened as she bitter thoughts sped through her brain about Naru. It wasn't that he didn't love her, she wasn't expecting miracles, but she thought that he might at least care about her. _He doesn't care._ The thought haunted her.

She dashed the water from her eyes. No, she would not cry. Not over some stupid, narcissistic bastard who had knowingly sent her as bait to trap an evil spirit. All those times he'd saved her skin, or appeared worried, they were just a front. She saw it now.

She sighed deeply and tried to focus on her maths problem, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. There were more important things in her life than series right now.

"Mai." Mai's hand's clenched as she waited for the inevitable. "Tea."

"Yes, _sir_." She muttered darkly.

A couple of minutes later the door to Naru's office slammed shut. The noise reverberated through the empty office.

Naru was tempted to say that if she broke the door she'd be paying for it, but decided not to push her too far. Mai crossed the room and practically threw the cup onto his desk.

"Well?" She demanded.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to say thank you? Or do you despise me so much you won't even be polite?"

"I don't despise you."

"Prove it."

They stared at each other, neither moving.

"I knew it." Mai said simply. She turned to leave, each step feeling heavy. She would have to give up her job, but she would have difficulty finding another one as well paid.

"Mai."

She spun round, and took a step back when she saw Naru was a bit closer than expected.

"I don't despise you."

Mai blinked. "Uh…" She managed breathlessly. Naru rolled his eyes and pulled her closer, pushing his lips against hers.

She froze with surprise. Naru, her Naru, was kissing her.

"Mai?" He pulled away, his face questioning.

"Yes?" She whispered, smiling happily. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled herself against his body. She stretched up and gently kissed him. She felt his hands pushing into her back as he deepened the kiss. She heard him sigh as he pulled away again. He rested his forehead against hers.

"Mai…" He started.

"Hmm?"

"Mai." More insistent this time. Mai frowned.

"Yes?"

"Mai."

"Naru?" Mai questioned, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"You were sleeping." Naru stated dispassionately.

It hit her and her eyes widened. _She'd just been dreaming about making out with Naru!_ Her cheeks burned and she avoided eye contact.

"Um, yes."

"I don't pay you to sleep, Mai. I'd appreciate it if you didn't doze during work hours." He marched off to his office, leaving Mai sitting at her desk miserably. "Oh, and Mai, tea."

Mai froze. Tea?

The bell above the door tinkled.

"Yo Mai, what's with the rabbit in the headlights act?" Yasuhara strode in.

"Oh, hi." She waved.

"…Well?"

"Er… nothing?" She opened her arms out in a hug invitation in the hope that it would distract him.

"You can tell me what's going on. Is it Naru-chan?"

"No, he just wants tea."

"Mai…"

"Yes?"

"I have an idea. Wait here." He scurried off to the kitchen. Mai did as she was told.

The bell tinkled again. Mai turned around to see Masako standing in the doorway.

"Is Naru in?"

Suddenly Yasuhara came back with a steaming cup of hot beverage.

"Hello Masako." He said quietly.

Masako looked at the cup in his hand. "Oh, has Mai given up her tea duties?"

"Er…"

"As I'm going into the office, should I take it to him?" She asked sweetly, her sleeve not covering her delight.

Mai could feel her blood boiling as she watched Masako gently remove the cup from Yasuhara's hands and knock on Naru's door. She waited till Masako had entered the office before turning on Yasuhara.

"What was that?" She demanded.

"Ok, the plan didn't go according to plan, but it will work someday."

"What's the plan?!"

"It's just an idea I've had for some time. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be angry with him?"

"Yes, but it is my job." She grumbled. Yasuhara rolled his eyes.

* * *

**Um, yeah, sorry for the slow update *cue guilty face* I mean, we moved, and then the laptop had a hissy fit and school and all that, but if I'm honest, I really really really hate writing the exorcising scenes. In 'things I hate to write' they come joint with kissing scenes (which I can, thankfully, delegate to 'Tave as she has a boyfriend and I don't). **

**Thanks to anyone who's kept with us so far :) **

**I'm really excited for the next case. For multiple reasons. One is that I found a song which matches the ghost's personality. Another reason is that Madoka is gonna be there :P At least, I think she is... O better not change her mind about the case plot again. We've already changed it like twice.**

**Please review! **


	76. 12 The Bleeding Mountain part 1

The Bleeding Mountain, Part 1

Issues

"You look excited Mai." Mai's friend commented as they packed their bags.

"Sorry," Mai breathed excitedly, "I've got work next."

"Work?"

"Yeah." She grinned. "And there was an appointment scheduled today."

"An appointment? But don't you work for some kind of ghost busting company?"

"That's one way to put it. But yeah, people make appointments, we go and cleanse their house or whatever."

"So an appointment is rare, I'm guessing?"

"Well, ever since…" Mai paused, in thought.

* * *

_About two months ago…_

"_Mai." Naru stood in the doorway of his office._

"_Yes?" Mai asked, refusing to look up. She was still mad at him for his behaviour on the previous case, even though that had been a few weeks ago. _This better be an apology_, Mai thought determinedly. _

"_We need to talk."_

_Mai looked up then, surprised. The phrase was something that she imagined troubled boyfriends or girlfriends saying to their partner when the going got tough, not something that a boss-who-definitely-did-not-have-feelings would say to his assistant-who-so-_totally -_did-not-have-a-crush-on-said-boss. _

Maybe it's his way of starting an apology…?

_He sat down, giving her a critical look. "I received a call recently from your headmaster."_

_Okay, not an apology. Mai looked at him confused. "And?" She asked._

"_Apparently a couple of you teachers are expressing concern over the amount of school time you're missing."_

"_I do well at school." Mai protested weakly. _

"_It seems not well enough." He sighed. "You can't fall behind at school. Education is important."_

"_I know, but-"_

"_Mai, I think you should come into the office less often." _

_She sat there for a moment, staring at him blankly. "Wait, Naru-"_

"_I'm not firing you Mai, I'm just saying that you should spend more time focused on your studies rather than here."_

"_I can study in the office!"_

_He shook his head. "The office is not a place to study, Mai. There are too many distractions, mainly people such as Yasuhara and Bou-san." He stood up._

_Her mouth fell opened then closed again. "Naru-"_

"_Mai, I'm not going to repeat myself."_

"_But Naru-"_

_He turned to face her fully. "Mai, I suggest that you take the rest of the afternoon off." She could see he was angry. Probably at her._

_Resigned, she packed up her things and left the office, desperately trying to not be upset. He wasn't firing her, he'd said so himself… But why did it feel like he was?_

_After she'd left Naru simply watched the door for a few seconds, the sighed. He turned to make his way back to his office when a voice stopped him._

"_They say absence makes the heart fonder." Lin watched his charge carefully. _

_Naru didn't turn. "This has gone on long enough."_

* * *

"… And ever since then," Mai continued, "He's been extra picky about cases. He keeps refusing cases that he would normally take. And when I protested, he simply starting making appointments during school time, so I'm not there, even though it's my job to make appointments."

Her friend nodded sympathetically. "So you're hoping that this appointment will result in a case?"

Mai nodded. "Yup. Fingers crossed!"

* * *

"Hello!" Mai called as she entered the office. Almost perfect silence greeted her. Taking that as a sign that both Naru and Lin were in, she deposited her coat on the coat stand and her bag on her desk.

She looked up as the door opened. "Yasu!"

"Hello Mai. I see you just got in."

"Yeah. So how're things?"

"Oh, you know, can't complain." He grinned. "But what about you? Has he apologised yet?"

At the mention of apologies, Mai's previous good mood turned sour. "No. And he still had the guts to cut my hours." She scowled. "He only uses me for tea and bait."

"Wait, this a perfect moment for the plan." All of Yasuhara's previous attempts at 'the plan' had been foiled, though he refused to tell Mai what 'the plan' was. The only thing she knew was that it contained tea.

She watched curious as Yasuhara made a cup of tea.

"Now, go give this to Naru." He said, handing her the cup. "But pretend that you've made, like usual." He winked.

"But why…?"

"You'll see." He said, turning her around carefully.

"Have you put something horrible in it?"

"Nope. If you don't trust me you can drink some of it."

Mai eyed the amber liquid. It looked like normal tea. She cautiously took a sip. It tasted like normal tea, although part of her wished that Yasuhara had put something like salt or an abundance of sugar in it. She'd kept trying to, but her better nature won every time.

She took the tea to Naru, leaving it on the corner of his desk like she normally did. He didn't even acknowledge her presence, much less offer thanks.

"… And?" Mai asked once she was back to Yasuhara. He'd made tea and she'd given it to Naru. Nothing had happened. He'd probably have drunk some by now and he hadn't said anything about it. She'd thought 'the plan' would be a _bit_ more exciting.

Yasuhara held up his finger for silence and timed two minutes on his watch.

"Aaand nothing. See?"

"See what?" What was she meant to see?

He sighed dramatically. "Naru doesn't give a fig about your tea."

"What?" She frowned. "Are you saying my tea's rubbish or something?" She sniffed dramatically.

"No no no. No offence Mai, though, your tea's nice, but it's nothing particularly special. It's not like you drink it and suddenly the world becomes a better place."

"What then?" Mai asked grumpily.

"Well then why do you think he asks for tea?"

"Because he likes tea?"

"But if he likes tea then why does he only drink your tea?"

"He doesn't drink only my tea. I've seen him drink takeaway tea."

"I meant if I were to go make tea he wouldn't drink in. He even said so once, I remember."

"Did he? When was that?"

"Do you remember that case, ages ago, in a mine?"

"Um, yeah. The one where we could have starved to death?"

"That one. Anyway, he doesn't drink tea made by any other member of SPR."

"… And? Maybe my tea is just better than anyone else's."

"If your tea was better than mine then why hasn't he mentioned it yet? Remember, that cup sitting on his desk was made by me."

Mai paused, thinking about it.

"Maybe he's just distracted. There was an appointment earlier today."

"No, Mai."

"Well it's either that or your tea is as good as my tea."

He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "Mai. It's not about the tea. It's about _you_."

She blinked at him, eyes wide. "What?"

Yasuhara face palmed.

"Mai." Naru's cold voice intoned. Mai froze, hoping he hadn't overheard their conversation, or judged anything from Yasuhara's position. She definitely did not want her boss thinking she was anything other than single.

Naru stood in the doorway of his office.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Call this number." He said, showing her a piece of paper with a number scrawled on it. "And ask for Sekozawa Kuniko if she doesn't pick up."

She took the paper from him. "What should I say?"

"Tell her that we accept her case."

* * *

Sekozawa Kuniko turned out to be a pretty woman who looked like she was barely middle aged. She greeted the team with what appeared to be a mixture of relief and genuine hospitality. The building – Mai had originally presumed it to be a house – turned out to be a hotel.

"There aren't any guests at the moment." Kuniko explained. "We close the hotel for winter because of a lack of guests and accessibility issues." She led them into a rectangular room, recently cleared out. "I hope that this will be fine for your base… I already explained the sleeping arrangements, didn't I?"

"You did."

Mai looked at Naru, surprised. Sleeping arrangements?

"Then I will leave you get set up." Kuniko bowed again and left.

"Sleeping arrangements?" Bou-san echoed Mai's and everyone else's thoughts.

"It appears that there only rooms of two available. As we are an even group, this no problems."

Mai looked around. Herself, Madoka, Ayako, Masako, Bou-san, John, Lin, Naru. He was correct. There wouldn't even have to be a mixed gender room.

"You could have said earlier." Madoka admonished. "Can we choose who we share a room with?"

"Yes."

Madoka linked arms with Mai. "I bagsy Mai then."

"Sure." Mai said, suddenly feeling slightly wary of Madoka. It wasn't like she disliked the older woman, but Madoka most likely had some trick up her sleeve. Ayako and Masako shared a look.

* * *

"So, Mai, we haven't seen each for a while." Madoka said from the bathroom that evening.

"About 3 months." Mai was snuggling underneath the covers, trying to focus on her book.

"You have to tell me everything. I heard Naru's got a stick up his ass."

"You mean-"

"With the thing on the last case. And he cut your working hours. Which most people wouldn't complain about, but…"

"Yeah, I know."

"Has he told why? I mean, not why _why_ but why?" Madoka appeared in the doorway, frowning, before crossing over to her bed.

"Apparently some of my teachers told my headmaster I was missing too much school and he phoned Naru who as a consequence cut my working hours so I can spend more time studying."

"I thought you studied at the office?"

"Apparently 'there's too many distractions'." Mai sniffed. "Or something like that."

"Naru's an arsehole. You simply have to try and beat it out of him."

"I don't think he's capable of change."

"Oh, of course he is. You think he's an arsehole now, you should have met him when he was younger. He was unbearable."

"Madoka… how long have you known Naru?"

"Oh, fair few years. Must be about ten?"

"Really?"

"Or something like that. About the same time as Lin. Anyway, we're not going to talk about him. We're going to talk about you."

"Well, nothing's really changed… A couple of new friends, that's it."

"What about your love life? Still single?"

"Yes."

"Is that because you're waiting for someone or because you're not interested?"

"Ma-do-ka." Mai face-pillowed.

"Oh, what am I saying. We all know you're waiting for Naru."

Mai raised her head enough just to glare at Madoka, who was immune to it. "No."

"Maaai. You can tell me."

"It's just a crush."

"You know, apparently if you've got a crush on someone for longer than six months then it's love? How long have you been 'crushing' on him?"

"All right, a lot longer than six months."

"See? You should make a move on him."

"Madoka, there is no way ever that he would react if I made a move on him."

"I think he'd react if you just snogged him."

"I'm not snogging Naru." Mai said, blushing from both the mere idea and the memories of her fantasy.

"You know what? I should just swap rooms with Naru. Then I get Lin and you get Naru. Result."

"Madoka, you know there's no way Naru would ever agree to that."

"But you wouldn't complain?"

"Of course I'd complain!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, what if something embarrassing happened?"

"You've already shared a bed Mai, I don't think anything embarrassing that could happen hasn't already happened."

"You know about that?!"

"Of course I know about that. Anyway, I'm not going to ask what happened in the bed, but I think you should be fine sharing a room with him."

"Nothing happened in the bed."

"Sure. Then why were you sharing a bed?"

"Because of Naru."

"So what, he forced you to sleep with him?"

"No- You know what? I'm going to sleep." Mai turned off the bedside lamp.

* * *

**So, two updates in the space of 5 days. I feel proud of myself. **

**Not to mention I've been waiting for this case for like aaagggeessss**

**Not much else to say... other than ASDOHEWSPOFGU9REQIFJWA NEW SERIES OF MERLIN AIHDIFRE. **

**I really really really like Merlin, if you haven't guessed.**

**Please review? **


	77. 12 The Bleeding Mountain part 2

The Bleeding Mountain, Part 2

Hot Chocolate

"Oh, wow. It looks like we're the first ones in." Madoka dragged a sleepy Mai into base. "Look Mai, look. This is a once in a lifetime event."

Mai yawned sleepily. "Madoka, why did you have to wake me up so early?"

"Oh Mai, we can't miss any chance to irritate Naru."

"I don't wanna irritate anyone." Mai wailed and lay down on the small sofa that they had carried into base the previous evening.

"I wonder where Koujo and Naru are." Madoka pondered. The door opened and Madoka turned. "Ah, speak of the devil. Or devils in this case. We were wondering where you two were."

"Checking a several metre long scratch mark on some walls that appeared overnight." Naru replied, ignoring Mai's now comatose body.

"Really?" Madoka asked. "Any words or symbols or anything?"

"No. It looks as though someone wandered around dragging a knife against the paint."

"Unusual."

"Hm." Naru replied, not really listening anymore, sitting down on a swivel chair. From the sofa, Mai snored lightly and attempted to roll over, crushing herself into the sofa's back. "You should get her out of here."

"She looks perfectly happy."

"In base is not a suitable place to sleep."

"But she looks so cute when she's sleeping. I can't bear to wake her up."

"I don't care. Get her out of here."

"Koujo, does Mai sleeping here annoy you?"

Lin shook his head. It did a bit, actually, but Madoka was onto something and he knew the hard way not to interfere with her plans.

"See Naru? It's just you. If you want her out of here, then you wake her up."

"You know that if we wake her she'll fall back to sleep immediately."

"Then carry her. I'm sure you're strong enough to carry her to her room."

"I'm not carrying her."

"But I thought you wanted her out of the room?"

Naru snarled and stalked out the room, making to slam the door but changing his mind and closing it quietly at the last minute.

"Koujo!" Madoka wailed. "Why is he such a stubborn idiot?"

Lin paused and regarded the woman who looked offended on Mai's behalf. "I don't know."

"How do we make him see that he's wrong?"

"I don't know."

"You should talk to him. You know, man to man or something."

Lin gave Madoka a wary look. He really really did not want to have that conversation with Naru.

"It wouldn't do anything."

"But you're his best friend! And I'd probably scare him off even more." Madoka pouted unhappily.

"I think…" Lin paused. "That only Taniyama-san can persuade him."

"But she doesn't know! We're back to square one!"

Lin wasn't even aware that they'd left square one.

* * *

Mai woke up with her eyes clogged up with sleepy dust and the muscles in her back and neck hurting.

"Hullo." John said. "Aren't you rather uncomfortable?"

She used one arm to prop herself up and the other to rub away the sleepy dust. "John?" She blinked thrice. "What time is it?"

"It's, er," He looked at his watch. "About half nine."

"Okay. Ah." She slowly sat up. A bone somewhere clicked. Her stomach rumbled.

"Haven't you had breakfast?"

"No. Madoka dragged me here at some god-forsaken hour."

John nodded sympathetically. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Yes please, that would be nice."

They left base and walked together with the aim of reaching the kitchens.

They passed a window. Something caught Mai's attention and she turned to look. Within an instant, her face was pressed up against the glass.

"Look John!"

"What?" He joined her at the window.

"Look at all the snow!"

It had snowed heavily during the night, and the white glittered beautifully in the sunlight.

"There's so much of it!" It covered as far as the eye could see, the van and cars were now mere blobs.

"Maybe Shibuya-san will let us have a snowball fight."

"Nah, I doubt it. Naru's a killjoy. Although…" She grinned wickedly. "Madoka's here!"

* * *

Mai determinedly pulled her gloves up. "Bou-san?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pairing with you."

"Righto. I'm targeting Ayako."

"I'll target John then."

"Okay then. Battle plan set."

"Yep."

"Ready?"

"Set to go."

"Then let's get at them!"

They both charged outdoors, quickly scooping up snowballs and flinging them left, right and centre. John and Ayako were already outside and quickly started throwing them back. This went on for a while.

Mai was running away from John to avoid being hit when she suddenly tripped and fell head first into a particularly large snowdrift. Her mood marred, she pushed herself up to her elbows when she heard a laugh.

Madoka outstretched a hand; Mai took it, wiping snow from her face. She shivered as some slipped down the front of her jacket.

"Maybe you should go back inside. Your lips are practically turning blue."

"Yeah." Mai mumbled, feeling suddenly rather cold. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just taking a walk. This place is quite nice, although I can see by what Sekozawa-san said about accessibility issues."

"Huh?"

"Imagine trying to drive up here with all this snow."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Anyway, I'd better carry on."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"I won't go very far, Mai. I won't even go up the slope. It'll only take an hour or so. You should get in; we don't want you dying of frostbite or pneumonia."

Mai nodded numbly and made her way back to the hotel.

Inside Mai found Masako sipping a mug of hot chocolate. She observed Mai with disdain.

"You look rather wet."

"Yeah well. I tripped and landed headfirst in a snowdrift."

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Masako muttered before taking another sip.

"Excuse me?" Mai asked.

Masako raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to explain?"

"Oh, hello Taniyama-san!" Sekozawa Haruo, Kuniko's husband, was a short man without his wife's ability to look younger than he was, with greying hair. He would have looked rather sombre and serious if it wasn't for the fact that there seemed to a permanent smile on his face. "Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"Yes please."

Mai and Masako politely glared at each other until Haruo returned, carefully carrying a large mug which was near over spilling. He set it down on the coffee table.

"Thank you." Mai smiled, and took a sip. He bowed and left the room.

Here she was, alone with Masako. The silence felt heavy and awkward, so she cupped her hands around the mug to avoid looking at her. She suddenly became aware that Masako was regarding her mouth with a set expression.

"You've got a milk-tache." Masako observed coldly. Mai flushed and hurriedly wiped her mouth, sticking her tongue out at Masako.

Masako sniffed and took another sip out of her mug, which was nearly empty.

Mai was just about to raise her mug to take another sip when suddenly the whole hotel shook violently.

Mai shrieked as her mug went flying and coated her in the hot liquid as she fell simultaneously from the sofa. She landed squarely on the floor, the wind knocked out of her.

* * *

Naru sighed, irritated. He needed Masako to make a trip throughout the hotel and see what she could sense. He couldn't do it last night because they'd run out of time and this morning most of his team had gone off to muck around in the snow. He stood up and looked out of the small window. Only Ayako and Bou-san were still outside, although Naru wasn't sure if it was still a snowball fight. Madoka was also presumably still outside, although he couldn't see her.

He considered a list of options to send Masako with. John.

Suddenly the hotel rumbled. He staggered, but easily regained his footing. The set of monitors against the wall rattled unpleasantly and Naru gave it a warning look, in case it even _thought _about toppling over.

There was a sudden shriek. He and Lin exchanged glances, before running out.

They got to the door of the living area as Ayako and Monk arrived panting and powdery. Naru rushed to Mai, who was picking herself slowly from the floor.

"Are you okay?" Monk hovered around her, not really sure what to do.

"Could you help me to the tap?" She asked, wincing at every move. Monk immediately knelt down to help her, leaving Naru with nothing to do but eye her red arm and soaked blouse speculatively. He turned to see Lin watching him.

"We need to call an ambulance." Ayako called out from somewhere behind Lin. Masako was shifted clumsily to the sofa.

"How is she?" Monk called out.

"Well, she's hit her head pretty badly, but otherwise she looks fine. What happened?"

Everyone turned to look at Mai, who frowned.

"We were drinking hot chocolate, and then I was knocked over and my drink spilled all over me. I didn't see what happened after that. There was a loud thump soon afterwards, which must have been Masako, and then you guys got here."

"Did you or Hara-san sense a presence beforehand?"

Mai shook her head violently. "If she did she didn't say anything."

* * *

Mai wrapped her arms around herself. Masako had come round shortly before an air ambulance landed on the roof. After putting a gauze on the side of her head where she'd hit something and was bleeding they checked for concussion. They had satisfied themselves that she was fine and then left. Not that that stopped her from feeling faint every time she was near Naru, Mai thought, grinding her teeth in irritation.

"What is it Jou-chan?" Monk asked.

"Nothing." Mai pouted, blushing.

"Uh huh. What kind of nothing makes you go bright red?" He chuckled, ruffling her hair.

Mai looked at him sadly.

"Ok, ok, I won't joke about your deep and undying love for Naru-bou."

Mai sighed exasperatedly. "Thanks Bou-san."

"You're welcome." He grinned.

"She's just upset that Masako is taking advantage of her injuries." Madoka said. Monk and Mai jumped.

"Madoka! You scared me!" Mai whined.

"Everything scares you." Bou-san pointed out.

"Does not!" Mai hissed. "Anyway, I'm mad at Naru."

"Really?" Madoka asked, incredulous. "Doesn't seem like it."

Mai gave Madoka a glare. "Well, I am."

"Then why are you upset over Masako practically drooling over him?"

"I'm not!" Mai blushed harder.

"Sure, sure. I've told you Mai, if you want something to happen, just snog him."

"Maaaaddddoookkkaaaaa!" Mai wailed, wishing that the earth would open up and swallow her whole.

"Did you tell her that?" Bou-san asked, trying and failing not to snicker. Madoka nodded, grinning. "Nice one."

* * *

**The holidays are like a blessing. I have only till sunday ;_; And then more school. And an art mock. And Mum's stolen my phone. Again. **

**There better be no more typos. I spotted two major ones in the previous two chapters AFTER I published them and gah, it's so infuriating. **

**Reviews are appreciated. A lot. IF YOU REVIEW THEN MAYBE SOMETHING EXCITING WILL HAPPEN NEXT CHAPTER.**

**Oh, and the reason we haven't updated Cursed and Aftermath for a while is because we currently have very busy lives to lead. Sorry 0:)**


	78. 12 The Bleeding Mountain part 3

The Bleeding Mountain Part 3

The Beginning of the End

The corridor was becoming increasingly cold. Mai wrapped her arms around herself. The hairs the back of her neck stood up.

She wasn't alone.

Mai turned to look behind her, but the corridor appeared empty. Her senses told her otherwise. "Hello?" She called, somewhat nervously.

No answer, except for the decreasing temperature. Her arms were covered in goose bumps. She felt like she was being watched.

"I know you're there." She tried, forcing her teeth to stop chattering.

Still no reply.

"What's your name?" She picked a different tactic. She had no idea what this ghost was like. It could be a kid.

The air in front of her seemed to shift, exude a different atmosphere. It was like the very air was contemplating her question, which wasn't possible.

Then, a shaky character was etched onto the wall.

_Ha._

It was bizarre, watching something being drawn into the wall without seeing anyone doing it.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed from thoughtful to malicious.

Lines were scraped repeatedly into the paint, the lights flickered jerkily, making Mai feel sick. She moved backwards but tripped over her feet and fell over heavily. A scream ripped through the building, loud and relentless, causing Mai to cover her ears.

It sopped as suddenly as it had started. The lights stopped flickering. Mai uncovered her ears and slowly stood up again. The temperature was normal again; the walls were a mess.

There was the muffled sound of running feet, and she turned again. Bou-san stopped when he was in front of her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

He sighed. "Good." He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. "Was worried it was you screaming for a moment."

She shook her head. "Their name starts with ha." She said, pointing to the character on the wall.

Bou-san frowned. "You talked to them?"

"Well, not really." Mai confessed. "It felt like someone was watching me so I asked what their name was and they wrote Ha on the wall and then went crazy."

"You should tell Naru."

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You, for no apparent reason, decide to walk. And then you feel a presence, so instead of calling for help, politely inquire this spirit's name. However, you anger the ghost so much that they embark on a destructive rampage and try to blow everyone's eardrums out. Correct?"

"Uh…" She squirmed. "Yeah."

"Alone."

"Yeah."

"_Alone_."

"I heard you the first time."

"Mai, you should know better than to go alone by now."

"Or what?"

"Next time the ghost may feel the need to hurt a person instead of the paintwork."

"So I'd get hurt. And since when did you care about my safety?" She let her words twist bitterly.

"You're my assistant."

"You made it clear that you don't give a damn about me on our last case."

"Mai, I took a necessary risk."

"You didn't care Naru. Let's face it. Your work is your top priority. Didn't matter what happened to me as long as you got your precious ghost."

He gave her a look. Mai's heart sank. He wasn't even denying it. He truly didn't care what happened to her.

She choked up a sob, and ran out the room without looking back.

* * *

Mai had managed to calm herself down for several hours by being restless, until Madoka found her.

"Mai, Mai. Come here." Mai let herself be bundled into Madoka's arms.

"Why does he have to use me like that?" She asked, feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

"I don't know Mai, I don't know. Come on, I'll take you to base."

The girl in her arms tensed and struggled briefly.

"No, no. I don't wanna see Naru."

"It's okay, he's not there." She gave Mai a brief smile. "Trust me."

Mai nodded and allowed herself to be lead. She wasn't aware of where they were until Madoka sat her down on the sofa in base.

"Here we are Mai." Madoka rubbed Mai's back soothingly. "It's okay."

"Why do I have to love him?" Mai mumbled.

"I don't know Mai."

They sat like that for a while, until eventually Madoka felt Mai drift off.

"She's asleep." Madoka told Lin. "Where's Noll?"

Lin shrugged.

Madoka nodded, and gently set Mai down, carefully arranging her head against the arm.

"You're too forceful with her." Lin noted quietly. Madoka sighed.

"No matter what I say to her, she's too shy to actually take action. She needs to be more daring."

"At some point Noll's pride will stab him in the back. And then something between them will happen."

"Puh-lease. Noll's way too frigid. And with his pride, he's going to lose her."

"So you're going to pick on him?"

"We need to get him out of this rut he's worked himself into."

"That's a yes."

"Leaving them to it was never an option. Neither of them have the guts and both believe that their feelings are unrequited." Madoka sighed. "Bloomin' teenagers."

Lin didn't reply, simply watching the monitors. Madoka rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's late." She yawned.

The door opened.

"Ah, Noll." Madoka stood up. He watched her with wary dark blue eyes. "I need some help. Mai's fallen asleep." She crossed over to the sofa and picked up the girl. "And I'd appreciate it if you could carry her." She dumped her in his arms suddenly, leaving him no choice but to support her.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Madoka-"

"Your plan was never going to work Noll, face it."

He glared at her, but moved his arms.

"Don't you dare sling her over your shoulder like she's a sack of potatoes." Madoka hissed.

"She's _heavy_."

"Which is exactly why I need you to carry her to our room."

He grit his teeth, but moved his arms once again to accommodate her more easily.

"You're a strapping chap, I'm sure you can manage to carry her all the way."

"I'm only doing this because if I drop her she'll crack her head open on the floor." He snarled.

"Sure." She patted him on the back. "I'm gonna say goodnight to Koujo, you go on ahead. And no dropping her, or depositing her anywhere on the way, or slinging her over your shoulder, or getting someone else to carry her. Understood?"

His eye twitched, but he turned and nudged the door opened with his foot and left.

"That was something." Lin admitted.

"He wants to carry her really."

"Hmm."

"I'm never doing it again though, my arms ache already."

* * *

Naru lowered the sleeping Mai onto her bed slowly, careful not to wake her. His arms complained at having been forced to carry her for a prolonged length of time. Human beings were quite heavy.

Her head hit the pillow softly, her hair spilling out. He was easing his arms out from underneath her carcass when suddenly instinct overtook him and he leant forward, brushing his lips against her smooth forehead.

He jolted back like he'd been struck by lightning. His arms jolted from underneath her body and she slumped onto the bed. He leant back, worried he'd woken her up, but thankfully, she didn't even stir. Naru had never felt so grateful that she was a heavy sleeper before.

He regarded her comatose body with wide eyes. _What had he just done?_

Then the door opened and Madoka strolled in. He quickly looked nonchalant and made sure his shirt was in order. Face in place, he turned to face Madoka.

"Happy now?"

She watched him with narrow eyes. His face was completely devoid of emotion. Madoka never wanted to play poker against him.

"No need to bark. Your tone betrays your expression."

He was silent, instead choosing to walk past her. She reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Do everyone a favour and grow a pair."

"I think you'll find I already have a pair." He gave her a mocking half smile before snatching his arm free and exiting the room.

Once in the safety of the corridor and away from the prying nose of Madoka, he seriously considered bashing his head against the wall.

_What on earth had he just done? _

It had been something so brief that it could hardly be called a kiss – yet a kiss it definitely had been.

Which just left one, even more important question.

_Why?_

* * *

**Sorry it's such a short chapter, but I can't really think of anything to add to this, soo... **_  
_

**My teeth ache so much, got my braces tightened today. I mean, I missed maths, but not entirely sure the pain is worth it... **

**Haven't updated for a while because I got an idea for a new story idea and started really focusing on that. And a scholarship exam. Which I have probably failed. And I haven't made any plans to go to any other Sixth Form. Gah.**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews.**

**Please review?**


	79. 12 The Bleeding Mountain part 4

**A quick recap of the previous 3 chapters: Nothing happened**

* * *

The Bleeding Mountain, Part 4

A Crooked Smile

Smoke curled elegantly towards the ceiling of the darkened room. The group watched Masako's still body, her face hanging so her dark hair covered her face. She lifted her head up slowly to face SPR, her eyes firmly closed. They all waited.

"What is this?" Masako's normally quiet voice was loud and angry.

"Our medium is channelling you." Naru said clearly, apparently deciding honesty was their best option.

Masako laughed. "And what do you think that will do?"

"I don't know."

Pause.

"What's your name?"

"And you think that will help you? I've seen some groups like you before. Fine. If you want it, you can have it. Hanako. Good luck." She cackled. Masako slumped forwards and the candles extinguished themselves.

Lin stood up and turned the lights back on. The group jumped. On all the walls around them, one word was written, scratched lightly into the wood. 'Hanako'.

"Naru-bou, look in the corner." Monk pointed. The word 'ha' was startlingly red against the white walls.

"I find it more creepy that she did it in silence." Ayako whispered.

"I think it's creepy that it's even there." Bou-san retorted, completely breaking the atmosphere. Ayako shot him a look.

"Naru..." Mai asked, suddenly feeling like a child and wanting to tug his sleeve. "What did she mean, that won't help you?" She felt unnerved. Something bad and ominous was in the air, curling like smoke around them, promising many future bad things.

He didn't say anything for a moment, eyes blue like aluminium oxide, watching the etching intensely. "We need to zoom in on the name. See what we can find on her."

Mai felt something twitch somewhere. "Naru, we're not the first here are we?"

"No Mai, this is a hotel." He snapped back. Part of her was relieved - if he was making smart arse remarks then clearly he was feeling confident enough.

"I told you, go and check on the name. See what comes up." He stalked out of the room, clearly thinking over something, his brain fumbling with the cogs and wheels.

She turned to Madoka, who was watching with some interest.

"Madoka?"

"No, we're not the first group here." Madoka said flatly. It sounded unusual on her, Mai noted. "Naru never told you anything about the case, did he?"

She shook her head. "We didn't have anything for ages and then suddenly we were leaving..."

Madoka took her by the shoulder. "That bloody kid." She muttered under her breath, gently pushing Mai out of the room, leaving the others to help Masako. She shut the door behind her gently.

"We're dealing with a serial killer." Madoka said grimly.

Mai looked at her with surprise. "What?"

"This ghost, the girl, she kills. She's killed several. I can't believe he didn't tell you this."

"How do they know it's her?" Mai asked. The haunting feeling returned, getting stronger. "Surely Naru would say, '"call the police and sod off?""

Madoka smiled softly. "In not so many words probably. But yes. However, there's no way a human killed them."

Mai swallowed thickly, saliva and tension colliding. "What happens?" She asked.

Madoka gave her an odd look.

"I need to know." She wasn't really sure why she used the word need, but there it was. She did feel like she needed to know. This was important.

"They find the bodies on the mountain. Higher up than here."

_Her eyes caught onto something further up – a black mass_.

"There's no footprints apart from their own - but it's not suicide."

_She turned and carried on walking, following a set of footprints._

"And..." Madoka paused for a second. "Mai, are you alright?"

"Tell me." Mai whispered. Her senses were all on alert, snarling and growling. Something here was wrong. So deeply, intrinsically wrong and if she didn't work out what something was going to happen.

"Their throats have been cut." Madoka said bluntly.

_The snow around him was a sickening bright red colour and Mai felt her stomach lurch unpleasantly._

"There's no knife on them either."

_"N-naru?" She asked feebly, hot fat tears starting to roll down her face as it started to sink in. His blue eyes stared up at the sky in blank wonder, his neck sliced open._

"Mai, are you sure you're fine? You've gone a funny colour. Do you want me to take you to your room?"

"He's going to die." Mai whispered, eyes unfocused. The dream she'd had - how long ago? It felt like years now - hadn't been a nightmare. It'd been the future.

And a future without Naru was barely worth the letters.

Mai turned and ran. She had to get outside, she had to find him now.

* * *

It was cold, she noted. The snow still lay thickly over the ground. She wished she'd brought her gloves vaguely. "Naru?" She called, trying to not be too loud. And avalanche would be very bad.

She looked up the mountain. He'd be walking up, right? She trailed after him, searching for black on white, or at least a pair of footsteps to guide her. She slipped several times, and soon she was coated and caked in the icy snow but she persevered. "Naru?" She asked again, until suddenly her eyes caught sight of a pair of footprints. How had she missed those earlier? She looked up, seeing the person she wanted to see so desperately.

She ran to him. He was still standing, a sign that she wasn't too late. There was time-

"Naru!"

He turned, and she saw him look at her.

"What are you doing here?" He asked calmly. Something was swimming in those eyes, possibly doing breaststroke.

She looked at him. "Naru, come back." She took steps closer to him.

He shook his head. "I can't Mai."

"Can't?" She echoed. "Naru, you have to, please." She outstretched her hand.

A few threads in him snapped. "Go."

"Naru. Shibuya Kazuya. I swear to whatever god is up there, and all the kamis, that if you don't come with right now I'll grab you by the hair and chuck you down. Roll you down like a snowball if I have to." The image was surprisingly comedic given the situation, and part of the tension shattered.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then the cold air changed and suddenly it felt like she was swallowing ice, all jagged and bleeding and cold.

She was too late.

There was something at her throat, cold and sharp, and someone behind her. She looked at Naru, suddenly panic in her eyes, different panic.

"My, my, a tag along."

"Hanako. Put the knife down." Naru said. He appeared calm. He wasn't.

He knew he couldn't let something go wrong. Not now, not today. He couldn't let her die, especially not in front of him, not while she watched him.

"Naru..." She whimpered, only to add to his resolve. Never mind being convicted of murder, he'd never forgive himself.

"Let her go Hanako." He said, keeping his voice level.

"No." The phantom girl snapped back. "This is better than I hoped." She chuckled. A girl, too plain to have ever really been anything attractive in life. Black knotted hair covered part of her face, the eyes dark against the white skin.

"You never really wanted her in the first place, did you?"

"I want her now. You know why? I hate you." She spat non existent saliva into the snow. "I hate your guts." She smiled crookedly. "I hate you and your kind."

"What kind?"

"Oh, even know you can't find it in you to show something? Not even now? God, you're more pathetic than I thought."

"Give her back. Please." His voice cracked slightly at the end. His mind was sprinting, speeding through all the different possibilities. His mind arrived at a possible cause, and he mentally swore. If he was right, he'd just dug his own grave. Mai's too.

"Oh, it's too late for that rodent. Far too late."

And then all at once he was blacking out, the snow cold against him.

* * *

**Yes, this chapter was a very long time coming. I sort of got writer's block and then Hodgeheg introduced me into roleplaying... And I tend to only be able to get obsessed with one thing at a time. So yeah, now I hang out on one of the roleplaying forums, rather than here. And with a new computer, and then Mum going, "You know what would make this better? Windows 8!" (which I hate with a passion, I mean, it doesn't have word, the word processor doesn't even have spellcheck like whyyyyyyyyyy) I just kind of... stopped. **

**And then today I managed to get on here finally and I read The Transfer and looked at some fan art and then I just opened it up and wrote. **

**Yes, it's very short. Quiet peoples.**

**Yes, it's not very good.**

**Yes, it's very dramatic. **

**Anyway, thank you for any readers I still have left :P If there are any of you out there... Your reviews are really encouraging :3 **


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